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18  YEARS 

ASA 

MIDDLE  WESTERN 
COUNTRY  BANKER 

1910-1928 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://www.archive.org/details/grief18yearsasmi00schm 


GRIEF 

18 
YEARS 

AS  A 

MIDDLE  WESTERN 
COUNTRY  BANKER 


DEDICATED  TO  THE  BANKING 

FRATERNITY 

OF  THE  STATE  OF  IOWA 


BY 
LEO  F.  SCHMITT 

BELLEVUE,   IOWA. 


Copyright    1928 

By 

Leo  F.  Schmitt 

Bellevue,   Iowa 


FOREWORD 

The  writer  of  this  book,  dedicated  to  the  Bank- 
ing Fraternity  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  is  at  present 
engaged  in  assisting  the  State  Banking  Depart- 
ment, in  checking  over  the  assets  of  a  closed  bank, 
a  bank  of  which  the  writer  had  charge  from  January 
1st  1920  to  the  date  of  its  closing,  February  l!+th 
1928. 

The  writer's  only  purpose  in  writing  this  book 
is  to  pass  on  to  the  bankers  and  to  posterity,  his 
experiences,  in  the  hope  that  any  information  con- 
tained in  the  book,  may  he  of  some  benefit. 

The  writer  feels  the  book  will  be  widely  read, 
and  for  that  reason  vividly  portrays  in  word 
pictures,  experiences  invaluable  to  anyone  connected 
with  the  banking  business,  ivhether  in  the 
capacity  of  an  officer  or  a  director.  The  book  is  not 
made  up  of  the  disgruntled  ravings  of  a  man  sour 
on  the  world,  but  contains  a  plain  statement  of 
facts,  worded  in  the  language  commonly  used  by 
the  writer;  language  that  now  and  then  may  be  a 
bit  pungent  or  offensive;  but  you  can  be  assured, 
forceful. 

The  writer  shall  call  an  Ace  an  Ace;  shall  en- 
deavor to  do  no  one  any  harm,  nor  injustice;  much 
less  slander  them,  and  makes  no  statements  not 
backed  by  facts. 

Leo  F.  Schmitt,  Author. 


CHAPTER  I. 

How  well  the  writer  recalls  one  bright  September 
morn,  in  1910,  when  his  father  Theo.  Schmitt,  of 
Holy  Cross,  Iowa,  drove  overland,  driving  Kate  and 
Queen,  to  Farley,  a  distance  of  14  miles  south,  to 
have  his  son,  this  writer,  accept  a  position  with  the 
Farley  State  Bank  of  that  town,  as  Assistant- 
Cashier. 

The  day  was  bright;  the  weather  balmy;  the 
roads  such  as  they  usually  were  in  1910,  before 
the  days  of  the  Highway  Commission  and  Bond 
Issues.  Everything  seemed  bright  and  ideal  for  this 
son  to  make  something  of  himself  in  the  Banking 
interests  of  the  State. 

Having  finished  school  at  Dyersville,  Iowa,  some- 
time previous,  with  a  general  average  of  97  plus, 
I  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  coming  future 
greats  of  the  community.  Many  of  the  mothers  of 
my  native  town  wished  their  son  could  have  gone 
away  to  school  as  I  had ;  could  have  obtained  a  little 
better  education  that  the  Eighth  Grade  provided 
at  home;  an  education,  while  more  or  less  limited, 
yet  of  sufficient  proportions  to  enable  one  to  get 
along  better  in  the  world. 

Entering  upon  my  duties  at  the  bank  about  noon 


of  my  first  day,  the  Cashier  of  the  Bank,  Mr.  F.  S. 
Ferring  put  me  to  work,  counting  and  wrapping 
S70.00  worth  of  pennies,  contained  in  several  Horse- 
Shoe  Chewing  Tobacco  boxes,  a  long  drawn  out 
job.  For  some  reason  or  other  the  pennies  seemed 
elusive ;  would  slip  out  from  under ;  but  after  wrap- 
ping several  dollars  worth  of  them  I  got  unto  the 
knack  of  it,  and  completed  the  job  along  about 
4  o'clock  that  evening. 

I  visited  with  the  Cashier  about  one  hour  or  so 
until  time  to  close.  Business  wasn't  very  rushing 
at  that  time  (the  finance  party  hadn't  started  yet), 
and  along  about  6  o'clock  Mr.  Ferring  handed  me 
a  key  and  said  "Kid,  now  you're  a  banker,  here's 
your  key".  I  took  it,  ofcourse,  feeling  that  some  day 
I  might  be  a  power  of  finance.  He  told  me  I  could 
get  around  about  7:30  o'clock  in  the  morning; 
sweep  out,  dust  off  the  counters,  and  that  by  that 
time  he  would  be  down  and  open  the  vault  so  we'd 
be  ready  for  business  about  8  o'clock. 

My  father  had  made  arrangements  for  me  to 
ooard  and  room  with  the  Cashier  and  his  family, 
so  at  five  that  first  night,  Frank  and  I  marcheo4 
down  the  streets  of  the  little  village,  both  feeling 
like  Napoleons  of  Finance.  Frank  was  quite  a  large 
man,  a  real  honest-to-godness  He-man  and  I  took 
considerable  pride  walking  down  the  plank  side- 
walks with  him. 

The  following  morning  I  arose  when  called  a  7 
bells;  ate  a  very  hearty  breakfast;     walked  four 


blocks  to  the  bank,  opened  the  door  and  started 
displaying  considerable  energy  as  a  janitor.  The 
work  was  new  to  me;  my  mother  with  her  6  boys 
and  2  girls  had  always  done  that  kind  of  work 
around  our  house  and  I  wasn't  used  to  do  it.  How- 
ever, I  started  the  work  and  it  seemed  the  more  I 
swept,  the  more  dust  I  raised,  and  raising  more 
dust,  the  dusting  job  got  heavier.  But,  after  about 
a  half  hour  of  raising  dust  and  trying  to  again  re- 
move it  Frank  appeared  on  the  scene.  We  didn't 
have  any  sweeping  compound  (the  Board  thought 
it  was  too  expensive) .  After  working  on  the  job  a 
half  hour  tho'  it  did  appear  as  tho'  someone  had 
been  doin  a  little  cleaning  around  the  place.  Frank 
unlocked  the  vault  door,  and  there  we  were,  with 
the  Farley  State  open  for  business,  ready  to  meet 
any  and  all. 

Along  about  9  :30  a  customer  came  in  while  Frank 
had  slipped  out  the  back  door  (the  town  wasn't 
modern  at  that  time)  and  I  marched  to  the  first 
window  (we  had  two)  and  asked  Mr.  Customer 
what  I  could  do  for  him.  "Who  the  'ell  are  you-" 
was  his  reply.  "Why,  I'm  the  Assistant-Cashier"  I 
said.  "Where  are  you  from"?  he  asked.  "I'm  from 
Holy  Cross"  was  my  reply.  Just  then  Frank  came  in 
the  back  door  and  introduced  me  formally  to  the 
customer,  John  Callahan,  who  operated  a  saloon  in 
the  town.  After  an  exchange  of  courtesies  and  the 
acceptance  of  deposit,  he  invited  me  to  come  down 
and  see  him  some  time,     advising  me  where  the 


saloon  was  located,  and  saying  that  he  had  known 
my  Dad  very  well,  in  fact  had  known  him  for  years. 
I  told  him  that  since  I  was  a  total  abstainer  he 
could  not  look  for  any  patronage  from  me,  but  that 
neither  could  Charlie  Connell,  who  operated  a  like 
establishment  across  the  street.  However,  both  of 
them  must  have  had  a  good  many  customers,  for 
almost  daily  a  deposit  containing  many  sticky 
dollars  was  placed  with  us.  I've  often  thought  since 
the  days  of  the  Volstead  Act,  how  profitable  such 
a  business  would  be  at  this  time. 

After  Mr.  Callahan's  departure  from  the  bank, 
Frank  put  me  to  brushing  up  the  wood  work  of  the 
bank,  tidying  things  up  in  general.  To  keep  busy 
until  noon  I  started  washing  the  windows,  after 
which  the  place  looked  very  inviting.  That  after- 
noon about  4 :30  Frank  suggested  we  should  also 
scrub  the  floor,  which  we  proceeded  to  do  with  a 
vim.  I  got  some  boiling  water  from  the  hotel  near 
by,  (toe  had  a  hotel  in  1910)  flowed  the  water  all 
over  the  floor,  and  with  two  old  brooms  Frank  and 
I  dashed  and  vigorously  swept  the  water  all  around 
the  floor,  having  first  added  considerable  Lewis 
Lye,  until  the  floor  looked  almost  immaculate.  We 
swept  the  water  out  the  back  door  and  left  for 
home.  I  was  rather  tired  that  night,  a  bit  more  so, 
than  I  felt  I  should  have,  but  Fd  earned  my  first 
dollar  as  a  Banker,  my  salary  having  been  placed 
at  §30.00  per  month. 

The  following  morning  was  a  repetition  of  the 


first,  altho  minus  the  dust  (you  see,  we'd  scrubbed 
out  the  night  before)  but  in  cleaning  up  the  place 
a  little  I  noticed  the  base  of  our  golden  oak  fixtures 
a  bit  whiter  than  it  should  be  and  pointed  it  out 
to  Frank  when  he  came,  who  proffered  the  follow- 
ing "You  used  to  dammuch  Lewis  Lye  last  night, 
that's  what's  the  matter  with  that  wood-work". 
It  made  me  feel  awfully  bad  ofcourse,  so  in  a  few 
minutes  I  slipped  into  the  drug  store,  operated  by 
Al  Brueckner,  next  door,  and  borrowed  his  bottle 
of  furniture  polish  with  which  I  attempted  to  cover 
up  the  wood  work  a  little,  and  really  did  succeed  in 
making  it  look  much  better  than  it  appeared  in  the 
morning.  The  balance  of  the  furniture  polish  bottle 
was  returned,  ofcourse.  We  always  returned  every- 
thing we  borrowed.  They  don't  do  that  so  much 
anymore,  do  they?  Even  with  money? 

That  Job  out  of  the  way  Frank  put  me  to  trying 
my  hand  at  the  Individual  Ledger,  which  job  was 
duck  soup  for  me,  for  I  possessed  a  faculty  of 
handling  figures  quite  fast  and  Frank  marveled 
at  the  short  time  it  took  me  to  do  the  work. 
Checking  Accounts  during  that  age,  WERE  check- 
ing accounts,  and  not  lousy  accounts,  such  as  many 
of  us  have  on  our  books  at  this  time.  Fifty  Cents 
and  Dollar  checks  were  unheard  of,  and  we  bankers 
can  take  credit  for  educating  the  public  to  write 
checks  of  such  small  amounts  ourselves,  a  practice 
that  is  nothing  but  a  dambill  of  expense  (additional 


expense,  I  should  say)  to  the  bank,  for  who  of  us 
hasn't  advertised  in  the  past 

ONE  DOLLAR  OPENS  A  CHECKING  ACCOUNT 

HERE. 

It's  wrong  boys  and  you  know  it.  If  I  started  a  bank 
today,  no  account  of  less  than  a  hundred  dollars 
would  be  accepted  and  every  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry 
wouldn't  have  an  account,  to  eat  up  your  station- 
ery postage,  take  much  of  your  book-keepers  time, 
etc,  etc,  etc.  Nuisances  should  be  eliminated  from 
banks  as  quickly  as  possible  and  lousy  accounts 
such  as  some  men,  women  and  kids  have,  would  not 
appear  on  your  books. 


CHAPTER   II. 

Things  went  on  about  as  usual,  for  the  next  two 
weeks,  with  nothing  to  mar  the  monotonous  routine, 
until  one  night  Frank  said  he  was  going  away  for 
a  few  days;  that  he  had  not  had  a  vacation  since 
organizing  the  bank  in  1906,  and  that  if  anything 
serious  developed  during  his  absence,  I  should  get 
in  touch  with  the  President  Mr.  J.  P.  Sanner. 

I  voiced  very  strenuous  objections  to  his  going; 
said  I  was  going  to  quit,  if  I  had  to  run  this  bank 
alone  for  a  few  days.  But  he  was  so  sure  of  me 
being  able  to  handle  it,  that  he  insisted  upon  going. 
After  seeing  his  sincerity  and  his  confidence  in  me 
I  said  I  would  try  it  at  least. 

So  the  next  morning,  arising  bright  and  early 
this  writer  marched  down  to  the  bank,  opened  up 
as  usual,  done  a  little  cleaning  up,  and  prepared 
to  face  the  music.  Nothing  evenful  happened  that 
day ;  ordinary  deposits  and  withdrawals  were  made ; 
everybody  felt  good  (people  were  human  those 
days)  I  spent  much  time  visiting,  getting  acquaint- 
ed with  the  customers;  stood  ready  to  do  any 
reasonable  favor  for  them  and  glad  to  do  it. 

The  second  day  was  much  like  the  first,  except- 
ing that;   when  balancing  the  cash  that  night,   I 

1 1 


seemed  to  be  short  S1728.00  and  check  over  my 
work  as  much  as  I  would  I  could  not  seem  to  make 
the  Tellers  Blotter  balance.  I  looked,  looked  and 
looked,  checked,  checked  and  checked  until  I  was 
almost  blue  in  the  face,  but  couldn't  find  it.  I  tried 
that  evening  to  get  Frank  by  telephone  at  Dubuque 
(Yes,  we  did  have  a  telephone)  but  none  of  his 
relatives  or  friends  seemed  to  know  his  where- 
abouts, or  where  I  might  reach  him.  You  see,  I  was 
in  a  bad  way.  A  new  Kid  on  the  job;  $1728.00  short 
and  being  more  or  less  hotheaded,  I  began  to  get 
tough.  Anyway,  I  couldn't  locate  Frank,  so  proceed- 
ed to  go  down  to  the  general  store  operated  by  the 
President  of  the  Bank  and  laid  my  troubles  before 
him. 

He  smiled  at  me  and  finally  laughed  at  my  ex- 
citement, until  I  got  so  damhot,  I  offered  him  my 
keys  with  these  words:  "Here,  you  run  your  own 
lousy  bank,  I'm  through".  When  he  saw  my  evident 
display  of  anger,  he  said  he  would  come  up  in  the 
morning  and  help  me  to  find  it.  The  following 
morning  he  did  show  up;  started  looking  at  the 
blotter  and  young  as  I  was  it  didn't  take  me  long 
to  decide  he  didn't  know  more  about  a  Teller's 
Blotter  than  a  monkey  does  about  a  Bible.  I  went 
on  with  my  work,  ignoring  him,  for  I  couldn't  quite 
forget  him  laughing  at  me  the  evening  before.  He 
even  went  so  far  as  to  look  thru  the  waste-basket 
(an  old  tin  bucket).  Had  he  known  that  I  inspected 
every  little  piece  of  scrap  paper  the  night  before, 

12 


he  would  not  have  bothered  to  look.  But  I  took  a 
certain  amount  of  satisfaction  in  watching  him  look 
for  something  I  knew  he  couldn't  find  in  that  old 
pail. 

Shortly  he  decided  he  had  better  try  and  get 
in  touch  with  Frank,  when  I  told  him,  he'd  better 
have  Frank  out  here  tonight,  or  get  another  man 
to  run  the  bank,  because  I  was  through,  and  I  didn't 
mean  may  be.  He  returned  to  the  bank  about  4 :30 
and  coaxed  me  for  30  minutes  to  stay  at  least  until 
Frank  returned.  I  staid  a  few  days  and  one  after- 
noon Frank  called  me  from  Dubuque  (no  doubt 
some  of  his  friends  had  told  him  I  had  been  trying 
to  locate  him) .  I  told  him  of  my  shortage,  giving 
him  the  amount,  and  advised  that  I  could  not  locate 
it.  His  reply  was  "Ha!  Ha!"  $1728.00  short,  why 
you're  cuckoo".  Now  then,  I  knew  I  wasn't  cuckoo, 
I  was  only  short  a  whole  lot  of  money,  and  it  made 
me  hot  to  have  him  hand  me  the  rinykaboo,  but  he 
said  he  would  be  out  on  the  Clipper,  at  5  o'clock 
that  evening,  and  would  meet  me  at  the  bank.  Sure 
enough,  he  came,  and  if  ever  I  was  glad  to  see  a 
friend,  it  was  to  see  Frank  walk  in  that  evening. 
He  checked  over  the  blotter  the  date  of  the  shortage, 
and  check  as  he  might,  the  shortage  was  there.  He 
checked  the  cash  for  each  succeeding  day;  balanced 
each  succeeding  blotter  up  to  and  including  that 
date,  and  everything  seemed  to  be  alright,  but  still 
where  was  my  S1728.00?  When  he  was  putting  the 
currency  back  into  the  safe  that  night,  after  check- 

13 


ing  everything,  one  pile  of  $20.00  bills  slipped  to 
one  side  of  the  floor,  and  when  I  stooped  to  pick  it 
up  for  him,  I  noticed  a  small  slip  of  paper,  lying 
next  to  the  wall  on  the  floor,  picked  it  up,  and  Lo! 
and  behold,  here  was  our  S1728.00  and  Ye!  Gods, 
how  happy  I  was.  It  was  a  check  signed  by  Neale 
O'Connel  for  cattle,  deposited  by  a  customer  the 
day  of  the  shortage,  and  in  putting  the  cash  away 
to  go  to  dinner,  it  must  have  slipped  off  to  one  side, 
unnoticed  by  myself.  Ever  since  that  day  and  up 
to  the  present  time,  I  have  always  listed  every  check 
individually  on  the  deposit-ticket,  for  isn't  that 
why  the  printers  rule  them? 

The  old  Boston  Ledger  was  my  morning  prayer 
book;  I  worked  on  it  diligently  every  morning  until 
about  10  o'clock.  I  got  so  I  loved  the  book;  could 
remember  the  balances  of  the  morning,  all  thru 
the  day;  would  re-write  the  names  of  the  accounts 
every  month  and  took  pride  in  keeping  it  neat  and 
clean,  and  my  ability  to  get  the  work  out  fast  and 
accurately. 

All  of  my  spare  time  I  spent  snooping  around 
the  bank;  going  thru  the  files,  which  were  made 
up  of  lumber  something  along  the  line  of  what 
many  garages  have  for  their  parts,  those  4by6  inch 
built-in  about  14  inches.  You  bankers  know  the 
kind.  I  aimed  to  learn  where  everything  was,  and 
did,  until  I  had  almost  a  mental  filing  cabinet  in 
my  mind.  That  sort,  was  practically  the  only  filing 
cabinet,  the  only  system,  the  country  banker  had 

14 


at  that  time,  with  the  result  that  many  times  you 
were  kept  busy  looking  for  this  or  that,  knowing 
positively  where  you  had  put  it  so  you  would  know 
just  where  to  lay  your  hands  on  it,  and  then  when 
you  wanted  it,  be  unable  to  locate  it.  We'd  upset 
most  everything  in  the  vault  to  find  it.  I  recall 
Frank  and  I  had  a  devil  of  a  time  finding  the  Deed 
to  the  Bank  itself.  We  upset  most  everything  trying 
to  find  it,  and  finally  did.  You  know,  it  would  have 
been  terrible  not  to  have  the  Deed  to  the  bank 
premises  in  your  possession. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Things  went  along  swimmingly  until  Christmas 
Eve  1910,  when  about  four  o'clock  Alfred  Dolin 
came  bursting  into  the  bank,  presenting  a  $50.00 
Confederate  Bill,  handing  it  to  Frank  and  asking 
for  real  United  States  money  in  exchange.  Frank 
looked  the  Bill  over  and  told  him  it  was  no  good 
and  that  he  wouldn't  give  him  a  dime  for  it.  "Well" 
Dolin  said  "I  got  it  at  this  bank  and  you  ought  to 
give  me  regular  money  for  it".  Frank  told  him  he 
did  not  get  it  here,  and  Dolin  said  "I  got  it  from 
that  Kid  over  there".  My  Lord!  I  looked  around 
from  my  back  desk  and  walked  up  to  the  front 
window,  alongside  of  Frank,  looked  at  the  bill  and 
told  both  of  them  I  had  never  seen  one  like  it  in 
my  life.  Dolin  however,  was  insisting  that  he  got 
it  from  me.  Frank  told  him  to  come  back  the 
morning  after  Christmas  and  he  would  go  over 
the  matter  with  him,  that  he  was  in  a  hurry  to  go 
to  Bankston  to  his  mother  for  Christmas ;  Dolin  left 
at  that  and  Frank  and  I  started  for  Bankston,  from 
where  I  drove  his  horse  and  buggy  to  Holy  Cross 
to  spend  Christmas  with  my  folks.  I  didn't  think 
anyone  would  have  such  a  blue  Christmas  as  I 
had  that  year,  but  little  did  I  know  what  was  in 

16 


store  for  me  in  years  to  come;  that  many  a  Christ- 
mas was  to  be  just  as  blue.  The  day  following 
Christmas  Mr.  Dolin  (/  shouldn't  call  him  Mister) 
called  at  the  bank  and  he  and  Frank  went  into  con- 
ference in  our  little  front  office  (Oh!  yes,  we  had 
a  little  private  office  too).  After  considerable  dis- 
cussion Frank  said  he  would  pay  him  the  money 
and  I  told  Frank  he  would  be  a  damn  fool  if  he  did, 
and  about  that  time  I  was  ready  to  knock  the  'ell 
out  of  Dolin,  but  Frank  wouldn't  stand  for  it.  He'd 
probably  alicked  me  at  that.  Finally  Frank  told 
him  that  if  he  would  sign  an  affidavit  before  a 
Notary  Public,  he  would  give  him  the  money,  but 
he  would  have  to  swear  as  to  the  date  or  approxi- 
mate date  he  got  the  money.  (People  had  more 
respect  for  an  affidavit  those  days  than  now).  At 
any  rate,  about  that  time  Dolin  broke  down  crying, 
and  said  he  did  not  get  it  here,  but  got  it  from  a 
fellow  by  the  name  of  Streif,  but  since  Streif  was 
no  good  financially,  he  thought  he  could  get  away 
with  it  at  the  bank  and  lay  the  blame  unto  me. 
Say  man,  was  I  hot.  I  offered  to  lick  him  again,  and 
when  I  saw  Frank  wouldn't  stand  for  it,  I  sure 
did  want  to  clean  up  on  him.  Boy!  I  felt  like  I 
could  lick  the  world  about  that  time,  but  good  old 
Frank  was  between  us  and  could  have  thrown  us 
both  out,  had  he  wished  to  do  so.  He  finally  told 
Dolin  to  get  out  and  never  show  up  around  this 
bank  again,  and  then  when  Dolin  didn't  move  right 
quick,  Frank  came  very  near  throwing  him  out. 

17 


March  1st  1911  opened  up  with  more  farmers  in 
the  town  than  I  had  ever  seen  in  Farley.  I  got  my 
first  conception  of  what  March  1st  held  in  store 
for  the  average  country  banker.  Frank  and  I  were 
kept  busy  from  8  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  six 
that  evening,  and  after  supper  spent  three  hours 
trying  to  find  a  balance.  We  finally  made  the  grade 
within  a  dollar  and  sixteen  cents,  whereupon  Frank 
said  "Who  the  'ell  cares  for  a  dollar  and  sixteen 
cents  away,  we're  going  to  throw  the  stuff  into 
the  vault  and  go  home".  That  night  one  of  his  kid- 
dies developed  cramps  and  between  Frank  and  I 
we  got  him  through  the  night  alright.  The  limit  of 
our  endurance  had  been  about  reached  when  the 
doctor  appeared  on  the  scene,  who  took  care  of  the 
little  lad  nicely.  The  following  day  we  were  about 
as  busy  as  the  first  and  having  spent  the  greater 
portion  of  the  night  up,  neither  of  us  was  disposed 
to  be  very  agreeable. 

Spring  came  and  with  it  the  baseball  season  and 
being  more  or  less  of  a  fan  and  having  a  little 
ability  as  a  player,  I  hooked  on  with  the  Deyersville 
team  playing  third  base  on  the  team,  getting  $5.00 
per  game,  with  a  little  additional  expense  money. 
The  four  games  per  month,  we  played  Sundays 
only,  netted  me  two-thirds  of  my  regular  salary 
at  the  bank,  which  additional  money  looked  big  to 
me  for  some  of  the  lassies  began  to  attract  my  eye, 
which  as  you  boys  know,  takes  a  little  funds  now 
and  then. 

18 


Along  about  August  of  that  year  vacation  time 
came  and  after  going  into  conference  with  Frank, 
we  agreed  that  rather  than  my  taking  a  regular 
vacation  I  would  be  allowed  to  play  some  week-day 
games  with  the  team  at  various  County  Fairs 
around  the  territory,  without  having  my  wages 
docked  on  account  thereof.  The  summer  went  by, 
rather  uneventful.  Fall  came  along  with  its  re- 
sultant colorful  leaves;  weinie  roasts  were  in  order, 
and  bashful  as  I  was,  I  soon  learned  that  girls 
were  not  so  dangerous  as  they  looked,  and  soon 
began  to  shine  up  to  one  now  and  then.  Occasionally 
I  would  take  one  of  them  home  from  a  dance,  and 
wait  around  at  the  gate  for  a  while,  afraid  to  follow 
her  into  the  house,  altho  at  times  I  did  feel  that 
my  so  doing  would  be  agreeable  all  around.  But, 
being  just  a  little  scared  of  them,  I  would  trot 
home  quickly.  I  recall  vividly  one  evening  when 
Frank  was  out  of  town  I  took  advantage  of  his 
absence  and  staid  with  a  young  lady  friend  of  mine 
a  little  longer  than  usual,  when  upon  returning 
home  I  was  met  at  the  door  by  the  Cashier's  wife, 
with  the  statement  that  if  Frank  were  home  I 
would  not  stay  out  as  late  as  I  did;  that  I  was 
taking  advantage  of  his  being  gone.  There  was  no 
question  about  that. 

During  the  Fall  of  1911  Father  Slattery,  the 
Parish  Priest,  decided  I  should  pay  some  Pew  Rent, 
since  I  was  patron  of  his  Church,  coming  into  the 

19 


bank  one  morning,  telling  me  of  his  idea.  He  handed 
me  a  slip  purporting  to  be  a  receipt  for  pew  rent. 
I  couldn't  read  a  word  of  it,  and  asked  him  about 
how  much  he  thought  I  ought  to  pay.  He  stated 
that  about  $15.00  per  year  would  suit  him  alright. 
I  told  him  that  such  amount  was  more  than  the 
Cashier  was  paying  and  I  could  ill  afford  to  pay 
as  much  as  he,  whereupon  he  agreed  to  accept 
$10.00,  which  amount  still  was  staggering  to  me, 
after  which  we  decided  that  about  $2.00  a  year 
would  be  alright.  I  paid  him  the  two  bucks  directly, 
handing  back  his  receipt  to  have  him  change  it, 
and  he  said  "Just  keep  it,  what's  the  difference?" 
He  was  a  lovable  old  soul;  would  march  down  the 
aisle  on  Sunday  morning;  walk  right  on  thru,  out 
of  Church,  visit  with  the  boys,  at  times  as  long 
as  20  minutes,  keeping  the  balance  of  the  congre- 
gation waiting  inside,  after  which  he  would  say 
"Come  on  boys,  we're  ready  to  start".  The  gang 
would  follow  after,  when  Mass  would  start 
promptly.  Sometimes  a  latecomer  would  be  asked 
to  come  right  down  in  front  and  make  himself  at 
home.  Many  times  I  would  listen  to  "You  will  be 
called  upon  to  render  an  account  of  your  steward- 
ship" and  we  bankers  know  what  that  means,  for 
between  the  Assessor,  the  Income  Tax  Man,  State 
Officers,  Banking  Departments,  etc,  etc,  an  account 
of  your  stewardship  became  more  or  less  offensive, 
and  you  bankers  that  belong  to  the  Federal  Reserve 
System  certainly  know  what  that  means,  for  they 

20 


certainly  call  you  to  account  for  this,  for  that, 
until  you  get  moodish  and  feel  like  telling  them  to 
go where  green  cord-wood  isn't  being  burned. 


21 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Christmas  of  1911  came  and  went,  as  is  generally 
the  case.  Hog  returns  had  been  coming  in  good; 
we  were  flush  with  money,  when  Frank  thought 
the  advisable  thing  to  do  was  to  buy  a  little  Com- 
mercial Paper  for  our  excess  reserve,  so  we  might 
make  a  little  more  money,  and  promptly  proceeded 
to  take  the  matter  up  with  some  of  our  correspond- 
ents. I  don't  want  to  overlook  the  fact  that  at  the 
regular  meeting  of  our  Board  of  Directors  in 
January  the  boys  decided  that  to  allow  me  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  life  they  would  raise  my  salary, 
and  passed  a  resolution  as  follows:  "Moved  and 
seconded  that  we  pay  the  Assistant-Cashier  the 
sum  of  $40.00  per  month  for  the  year  1911.  Car- 
ried". 

Shortly  Frank  heard  from  the  correspondents, 
and  sure,  they  would  be  very  glad  to  be  of  assistance 
in  furnishing  him  with  any  amount  of  Commercial 
Paper  he  might  wish.  They  sent  a  list  of  available 
paper  with  their  letter  and  so  we  two  Napoleons 
of  Finance  proceeded  to  disect  the  list  thoroly,  and 
picked  out  three  pieces,  among  them  a  note  of  a 
brick  and  tile  company  located  in  the  State  of  Iowa. 
The  main  reason  we  picked  that  in  preference  to 

22 


much  other  paper  was,  that  they  were  located  in 
Iowa;  the  Hawkeye  State,  and  you  fellows  know 
as  well  as  I,  that  not  many  years  later  the  Hawks 
did  get  in  their  work. 

The  particular  paper  chosen  was  to  mature  in 
1912,  for  since  our  deposits  had  been  on  a  con- 
tinuous up-grade,  we  could  well  afford  to  select 
paper  running  for  a  little  longer  period  of  time. 

Spring  and  summer  of  1912  saw  us  busy;  things 
were  going  along  nicely;  our  Undivided  Profits 
Account  was  gradually  crawling  up;  Frank  and  I 
were  happy.  By  the  way  I  overlooked  the  fact  that 
the  previous  December  salaries  had  not  been 
charged  up  until  after  the  first  of  the  year,  so  our 
report  to  the  State  Department  would  show  a  better 
Undivided  Account. 

It  was  during  June  of  that  year  that  a  fellow 
calling  himself  a  State  Bank  Examiner  dropped  in, 
making  the  second  examination  I  participated  in. 
He  immediately  proceeded  to  count  the  Cash.  It 
balanced.  Wasn't  that  fine?  He  took  the  bunch  of 
notes,  added  them  up;  checked  over  other  matters 
and  visited  with  the  Cashier.  He  called  himself  a 
bank  examiner  but  should  have  gone  by  the  title 
of  Checker,  for  in  substance  that  was  all  he  was. 
For  didn't  he  ask  me  to  run  the  time  certificates 
of  deposit  for  him?  Why?  So  he  could  visit  with 
the  Cashier  and  rest?  He  needed  it.  Hadn't  he 
counted  the  cash  and  run  the  notes?  Hadn't  he 
worked  diligently  at  that,  seeing  the  notes  were  all 

23 


signed?  Hadn't  he  asked  the  Cashier  whether  this 
fellow  or  that  was  good,  and  hadn't  the  Cashier 
said  that  he  was?  Hadn't  he  told  us  that  tomorrow 
he  would  be  at  Earlville,  but  that  he  thought  it 
shouldn't  take  him  long  there?  He'd  worked  hard 
and  was  entitled  to  a  rest  and  I  assumed  that's 
why  he  asked  me  to  run  the  time  certificates  for 
him.  My  proof  of  the  time  certificates  was  correct. 
He  complimented  me  upon  my  ability.  Frank  and 
I  thought  he  was  a  'ell  of  a  nice  fellow,  but  didn't 
realize  what  a  punk  of  an  examiner  he  was.  Those 
days  the  banker  didn't  know  what  a  hard-boiled, 
real  honest-to-goodness  Examiner  was,  but  they 
came  later. 

I  believe  it  was  that  same  Fall  that  a  certain 
note  of  S25.00  matured.  The  Cashier  had  spent  con- 
siderable time  writing  the  maker  that  he  wished 
to  have  the  note  paid  IN  FULL,  without  the  maker 
paying  anything,  not  even  any  attention.  After 
spending  about  50  cents  in  postage  on  a  good  many 
letters  (/  tvrote  them,  being  the  stenographer,  and 
could  take  explosive  dictation)  Frank  took  the 
matter  up  with  the  Board  of  Directors  at  one  of 
their  regular  meetings,  advising  them  on  non-pay- 
ment of  the  note,  and  the  Board  of  Directors  after 
due  and  careful  consideration  suggested  to  the 
Cashier  that  the  note  be  Charged  Off.  "I  hate  like 
the  devil  to  do  that  boys,  for  this  bank  never  lost 
a  dollar,  and  I'm  going  to  stay  with  the  ship  and 
collect  that  money"  replied  Frank.  After  that  came 

24 


more  letters  and  a  little  more  cussing.  Frank  and  I 
mourned  over  that  matter  for  two  months,  and 
finally  in  desperation  Frank  charged  the  note  to 
Profit  and  Loss  Account.  Frank  and  I  were  a  long 
time  forgetting  it. 

Just  about  that  time  also  a  transient  called  at 
the  bank,  and  stated  he  absolutely  had  to  get  to 
Dubuque  that  afternoon,  a  Saturday,  but  that  he 
needed  $10.00  to  get  there,  having  spent  all  of  his 
funds  at  Cascade,  from  where  he  rode  to  Farley 
on  the  Stage  Coach  that  afternoon.  He  was  a  fine 
looking  fellow  and  Frank  and  I  both  felt  sorry  for 
him,  but,  we  wouldn't  cash  a  $10.00  check  for  an 
absolute  stranger,  you  bet,  we  wouldn't.  Whereupon 
our  friend  said  he  would  be  glad  to  leave  his  watch 
for  security  for  a  ten  dollar  loan,  and  that  upon 
his  return  to  Farley  the  following  Monday  morning 
he  would  redeem  the  watch.  He  showed  the  watch, 
a  Waltham,  considered  a  high  grade  watch,  but 
still  we  wouldn't  give  him  the  ten  spot.  He  offered 
to  take  the  watch  to  the  jeweler,  allow  the  Cashier 
to  accompany  him,  and  ask  the  Jeweler's  opinion 
about  the  value  thereof.  We'd  had  about  ten  minutes 
of  sport,  so  in  justice  to  him,  Frank  agreed  to  ac- 
company him  to  the  Jewelers,  and  this  is  in  sub- 
stance the  conversation  that  followed : 

Stranger:  "What's  this  watch  worth,  Colonel?" 
Tinker:       "Well,     thats  hard  to  say,  but  I'd 
think  about  §35.00,     that's  a  swell 
watch." 

25 


Stranger:  "Would     you     recommend     to  this 
gentleman    (meaning   Frank)    that 
he   loan   me   $10.00   on   it?" 
Tinker:       "I,  certainly  would  Frank,  that's  an 
elegant  watch". 

Whereupon  Frank  and  Mr.  Stranger  return  to 
the  bank.  We  gave  him  the  S10.00,  took  the  watch; 
our  friend  appreciated  the  courtesy,  very  much, 
ofcourse,  and  said  he  would  be  back  on  the  morning 
train  Monday.  Monday  came  and  went,  but  no 
stranger  showed  up.  Tuesday  came  and  no  stranger. 
Frank  said  he  thought  there  must  be  something 
funny  about  that  Guy,  and  walked  to  the  safe  where 
the  watch  had  been  placed  the  Saturday  previous, 
and  brought  the  watch  out  to  the  work  room.  You 
see,  we  didn't  want  to  take  any  chances  on  having 
anything  happen  to  so  expensive  a  watch,  and  for 
that  reason  took  the  precaution  to  place  in  the  safe. 
Frank  and  I  agreed  it  was  a  mighty  swell  watch 
and  hoped  the  stranger  would  not  return  with  the 
ten  bucks,  so  we  could  keep  it,  so  promptly  it  was 
returned  to  the  Burglar  Proof  Safe  (Yes  it  was 
Burglar  Proof,  but  two  of  them  could  have  carried 
it  off). 

Months  went  by  until  one  day  we  decided  we'd 
look  at  that  little  jem  we'd  placed  in  a  clean  little 
cloth  bag  in  the  safe,  and  upon  opening  the  bag 
we  stared  at  one  another,  for  Lo !  and  behold,  wasn't 
that  darn  thing  pretty  black?  Frank  and  I  agreed 
it  must  have  been  the  dampness  in  the  safe  so  I 

26 


proceeded  to  wipe  the  tarnish  off,  but  it  just 
wouldn't  come  off.  The  darn  watch  was  almost  coal- 
black.  So  down  to  the  Tinker's  goes  Frank  "Here's 
that  damwatch,  give  me  $10.00  for  it  and  you  can 
have  it".  The  Tinker  looked  at  the  watch,  seemed 
surprised,  and  said  "Why,  Frank  I  wouldn't  give 
you  ten  dollars  for  that  thing,  I  wouldn't  give  you 
more  than  a  dollar  at  the  most".  "Why,  you  said  it 
was  worth  $35.00  and  I'm  willing  to  sell  it  to  you 
cheap"  replied  Frank.  "Worth  $35.00  'ell"  said 
the  Tinker  "I  wouldn't  tell  anybody  that  about 
that  thing"  said  Tinker.  There  he  was  calling  it 
a  thing,  when  previously,  some  months  prior,  he 
had  called  it  an  elegant  watch.  Upon  inspection  it 
was  found  to  be  a  "Walthan"  instead  of  the  "Walt- 
ham"  the  stranger  had  shown.  No  doubt  upon  re- 
turning to  the  bank  the  watch  had  been  slipped. 
I'm  NOT  going  to  tell  what  the  Cashier  said  when 
he  returned  from  Tinkers. 

A  short  time  later  the  piece  of  Commercial  paper 
we  had  purchased  the  winter  previous,  signed  by 
the  Brick  and  Tile  Company  came  due,  but  for 
some  reason  they  did  not  see  fit  to  pay  it  when  due. 
When  advices  of  it's  non-payment  came,  Frank 
thought  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  go  out  and  see 
what  could  be  done  about  the  matter.  He  promptly 
called  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  who 
agreed  Frank  was  right,  and  they  passed  a  reso- 
lution authorizing  Frank  to  make  the  trip,  agreeing 
to  refund  his  railroad  fare  upon  his  return.  Frank 

11 


went.  He's  one  of  those  clever  fellows  who  usually 
gets  what  he  goes  out  after.  He  returned  in  a  few 
days,  telling  me  he  had  made  a  deal  whereby  they 
were  to  ship  tile  to  us  in  payment  of  the  note,  until 
the  note  would  be  finally  paid  IN  FULL.  For  some 
months  later  tile  were  shipped,  disposed  of  by 
Frank,  until  practically  all  of  the  Company  obli- 
gation had  been  paid.  The  last  load  to  arrive  was 
very  faulty  and  you  should  have  heard  Frank  rave 
about  'that  son-of-a-gun'  for  shipping  inferior  tile. 
I  know  that  many  of  the  other  creditors  did  not  get 
much  'on  the  dollar'  and  here  we  were,  practically 
out  whole  and  kicking  about  it.  We  just  didn't  ap- 
preciate how  lucky  we  were  at  the  time.  We  hadn't 
learned  much  about  the  Loss  and  Charge-off 
business.  Those  days  banking  was  a  pleasure. 


28 


CHAPTER  V. 

That  fall  and  winter  we  again  had  a  nice  increase 
in  deposits,  with  business  going  on  normally.  Sort 
of  So-So. 

Nineteen  Hundred  and  Thirteen  with  its  tran- 
quility in  business  was  good  to  us.  We  prospered; 
our  Undivided  Proft  Account  kept  mounting  gradu- 
ally ;  my  salary  had  been  raised  to  $50.00  per  month 
the  previous  January;  the  Cashier  was  being  paid 
$150.00.  Yes  sir,  we  showed  a  fine  statement;  we 
felt  we  had  it  all  over  the  other  bank.  The  baseball 
season  was  a  success;  the  players  were  all  pals. 
Between  Everett  Cook,  Billie  Ferring  and  Flick 
Hittenmiller  we  had  a  very  pleasant  summer  soci- 
ally. Along  about  that  time  I  decided  I  should  like 
to  own  a  Camera  and  take  a  few  pictures  of  the 
girls,  the  scenery  and  this  or  that.  Ofcourse  all  of 
the  crowd  wished  to  have  one  of  the  pictures;  sure 
I  was  glad  to  make  them  up,  doing  my  own  develop- 
ing, and  would  furnish  one  to  each  of  the  boys  and 
girls.  Would  I  charge  for  them?  I  couldn't  very 
well;  they  were  all  friends  of  mine,  the  cost  per 
picture  was  small;  I  worked  in  the  bank  and  was 
supposed  to  have  a  lot  of  money  (a  misconception) 
and  gladly  furnished  the  pictures  gratis.  It  was  a 

29 


very  expensive  past  time  for  me.  Right  now  I  recall 
a  few  years  later  when  many  of  the  banks  thruout 
the  State  advertised: 

"A  FINE  CAMERA  WITH  EACH  SAVINGS 
ACCOUNT   OF   $10.00   OR    MORE" 

You  bankers  who  have  ever  made  use  of  a  Camera 
know  that  if  there  is  any  one  way  in  which  to  teach 
the  young  how  to  SPEND  their  money,  it's  to  en- 
courage the  use  of  a  Camera,  and  yet  many  of  you 
gave  a  Camera  with  Each  New  Savings  Account  of 
$1.00  Or  More.  After  the  Kid  got  the  Camera  every 
dime  of  his  or  her  money  was  spent  in  the  use  of  it. 
They  couldn't  help  but  spend  it;  didn't  the  banker 
furnish  the  Camera  cheap,  so  couldn't  they  afford 
to  stand  the  rest  of  the  expense?  Yes  the  REST 
of  the  expense?  There  was  nothing  to  the  Camera 
but  EXPENSE. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  considerable  Real 
Estate  was  exchanged.  Considerable  activity  was 
shown;  the  War  had  started  in  Europe.  One  cold 
morning,  in  walks  Ben  Toomis,  asking  me  to  make 
a  contract  for  him,  covering  the  purchase  of  a  farm 
southeast  of  town.  I  did.  He  returned  the  next  day, 
wanted  another  contract  drawn,  in  which  he  sold 
the  same  farm  on  an  advance  of  $15.00  an  acre.  Ha! 
Ha!  what  do  you  think  of  that  for  speculation? 
Ben  made  a  lot  of  money  on  the  deal.  Some  days 
later  a  similar  occurence  took  place.  Ben  was  buying 

30 


the  good  farms  and  selling  them  to  folks  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  at  a  nice  increase  in  price.  And  I 
got  a  nice  box  of  cigars  for  every  contract  I  drew 
for  Ben.  Couldn't  John  Jones  have  purchased  that 
farm  just  as  cheap  from  the  original  owner  as  had 
Ben?  Of  course  he  could,  but  John  Jones  just  sat 
around  and  didn't  buy.  Reminds  the  writer  some- 
what of  the  story  told  many  times  but  worth  re- 
petition. 

A  man  came  home  leading  three  dogs.  "What  in 
the  world  are  you  going  to  do  with  those  three  dogs 
Jim"  said  the  good  wife.  "Why,  I'm  going  to  use 
them  to  go  hunting  with,"  replied  Jim,  which  he 
promptly  proceeded  to  do.  He  led  them  out  into  the 
woods,  carried  his  gun,  and  noted  that  two  of  the 
dogs  were  very  active,  hopping  around  at  least 
noise,  and  one  of  them  just  sat  back  and  howled 
all  the  time.  Upon  his  return  to  the  house  he  told 
the  wife  he  would  call  this  one  "Grocer"  that  one 
"Banker"  and  this  one  "Farmer".  "How  did  you 
happen  to  pick  such  odd  names  for  the  dogs,  Jim" 
said  the  wife.  "Well,  I'll  tell  you"  he  replied  "the 
first  two  could  rush,  be  active,  apparently  out  for 
business,  while  the  latter  just  sat  on  his  behind 
and  howled  all  the  time". 

Who  among  us  will  ever  forget  1914,  with  its 
European  War  days,  everyone  in  this  country  talk- 
ing war,  until  folks  hardly  knew  what  else  to  talk 
about;  some  insisting  we  would  be  dragged  into  it, 
and  some  No.  About  that  time  someone  discovered 


the  income  tax,  excise  tax,  excess  profit  tax,  corpo- 
ration tax,  and  what-not  kind  of  a  tax.  The  man 
who  done  the  inventing  should  have  a  monument, 
erected  to  his  honor  by  the  Government,  for  who, 
among  the  banking  fraternity  has  not  contributed 
toward  it,  either  in  money  or  time  in  helping  the 
customers  making  up  their  reports;  having  those 
reports  come  back  from  time  to  time  with  the  state- 
ment they  were  all  wrong,  and  then  have  the 
customer  come  to  your  bank  and  feel  you  didn't 
know  much  about  it  after  all,  when  all  the  time 
you  knew  everything  about  Income  Tax.  I'M  right, 
what  say? 

I  believe  it  was  during  that  year  that  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Burroughs  Posting  Machine  Com- 
pany called  at  the  bank  and  attempted  to  sell  Frank 
a  Posting  Machine.  Both  of  us  looking  the  machine 
over  very  carefully,  but  Frank  decided  we  didn't 
have  enough  checking  accounts  to  justify  purchas- 
ing a  machine,  but  one  day  Frank  countered  with 
the  statement  that  anytime  he  could  post  those 
checks  and  deposits  as  fast  as  I  could  on  the  Boston 
Ledger,  he'd  buy  a  machine.  This  same  proposition 
was  made  every  time  the  salesman  came,  with  the 
result  that  we  did  not  purchase  a  machine.  All  the 
posting  being  done  by  myself  on  the  old  Boston 
until  leaving  the  bank  in  1916.  I  would  very  much 
have  liked  to  operate  one  of  them,  but  they  were 
too  expensive,  for  the  build-up  of  the  Undivided 
Profit  Account  was   more   important   than   speed. 

32 


Many  of  you  fellows  who  have  used  that  form  of 
bank  ledger  know  that  with  reasonable  ability  you 
can  eat  up  a  lot  of  posting  in  one  hour. 

At  this  time  the  writer  recalls  the  little  oil  lamp, 
lighted  every  night,  with  the  chimney  most  always 
clean;  pointing  out  the  chimney  to  the  girls  of  the 
town  as  an  example  of  cleanliness,  and  what  a  good 
housekeeper  could  point  to  with  pride.  You  see,  I 
was  getting  just  a  little  interested  in  house-keeping. 
Every  night  regularly,  I  would  drop  down  to  the 
bank  and  light  the  little  lamp  for  the  night.  The 
light  used  in  our  daily  work  was  one  of  those  large 
Standard  Oil  Lamps,  with  a  metal  base  and  circular 
wick,  one  that  needed  trimming  very  often,  and 
smoked  much  of  the  time.  I  would  have  liked  to 
have  the  bank  purchase  one  of  the  new  gas  lamps, 
the  kind  you  generated  with  alcohol,  but  after  the 
Board  of  Directors  gave  the  lamp  matter  due  con- 
sideration, they  decided  not  to  buy  the  lamp.  They 
were  too  expensive.  Cost  six  bucks,  and  Frank  and 
I  continued  to  plod  along  with  the  old. 

I  never  knew  why,  but  now  believe  it  was  not 
purchased  in  the  interest  of  the  future  generation, 
for  isn't  alcohol  the  present  popular  flapper  throat- 
wash-  and  no  doubt  the  Board  wanted  to  assist  in 
its  conservation  for  a  future  date. 

Sometime  later  tho'  we  did  buy  one  of  the  lamps, 
lit  it  the  first  evening  and  wasn't  our  little  bank 
lit  up  as  bright  as  day?  I'll  say  it  was.  We  were 
as  proud  of  that  light  as  we  were  of  our  bank. 

33 


It  was  during  1914  that  I  boarded  with  Ewen's, 
the  same  Tinker  previously  mentioned,  where  I 
learned  many  of  the  ins  and  outs  of  the  Restaurant 
business,  and  at  this  day  I  do  not  wonder  at  the 
successes  of  the  Childs,  the  Thompsons,  and  the 
Raklios  and  many  others.  Some  of  the  traveling 
men  coming  to  town  ate  their  dinner  (now  called 
lunch)  at  the  Tinker's.  I  learned  many  lessons  in 
publicity  from  my  little  table  in  the  Southwest 
Corner,  for  didn't  the  waiter,  none  other  than 
Tinker,  the  former  Jeweler,  ask  after  each  diner 
had  about  finished  his  meal  "Pie"?  "Yes,  what 
kind  have  you?"  "Apple,  raisin,  mince,  custard, 
lemon,  apricot  and  pumpkin".  "Bring  frne  some 
apricot"  replied  the  customer  and  didn't  the  waiter 
go  clear  back  to  the  2  by  4  kitchen  and  return  with 
the  words  "we  are  jut  out  of  apricot  and  didn't  the 
diner  say  "Well,  bring  me  some  apple"  and  didn't 
the  waiter  bring  it  forthwith,  knowing  all  during 
the  conversation  that  apple  pie  was  the  only  kind 
in  the  house? 

Oh !  yes,  boys,  many  a  time  I  listened  to  that  line, 
and  thanked  goodness  that  the  banking  business 
was  different,  and  had  I  had  a  reasonable  amount 
of  common  sense  I  would  have  gone  into  that 
business,  and  avoided  the  many  years  of  grief  that 
were  to  follow  in  my  line.  I  dare  say,  there  isn't 
one  banker  in  a  hundred  in  the  middle  west,  who 
would  enter  the  banking  business  again,  had  he  to 
do  it  over.    And  wasn't  it  a  fact  those  days  that 

34 


most  every  mother  was  more  or  less  envious  of  a 
banker,  and  hoped  and  prayed  her  son  would  grow 
up  to  be  a  banker?  For  didn't  the  folks  at  my  home 
town  many  times  tell  me  the  same  thing?  Wasn't 
it  nice  to  have  bankers  hours,  working  from  nine 
in  the  morning,  an  hour  off  for  dinner,  and  than 
until  four  in  the  afternoon? 

Ah!  yes,  it  WAS  a  job  to  be  envied.  You  and  I 
know  it  since  developed  into  a  'ell  of  a  job.  Ye  Gods! 
If  the  general  public  had  not  lost  their  confidence, 
the  Job  still  wouldn't  be  so  bad,  but  when  that's 
shot,  you  might  just  as  well  clean  up.  I  don't  want 
to  do  any  reminiscencing  now.  There's  is  going  to 
be  a  good  deal  of  that  later  thru  the  book.  As  stated 
in  my  foreword  the  story  is  not  made  up  of  the 
raving  of  a  disgruntled  banker,  but  a  plain  state- 
ment of  facts,  and  I  believe  that  the  public  as  well 
as  the  banking  fraternity  can  gather  much  valuable 
information  herefrom. 

The  Fall  of  1914  saw  me  safely  imbedded  in  the 
bonds  of  matrimony.  One  particular  little  lassie 
in  the  town  made  such  an  impression  on  me  that 
I  was  successful,  after  much  persuasion,  to  induce 
her  to  live  with  me  as  a  wife.  We  promptly  set  up 
housekeeping  in  a  nine  room  house,  one  block  from 
the  bank,  paying  $9.00  per  month  for  it. 

Where  can  you  rent  a  first  class  nine  room  home 
for  that  money  today?  At  this  writing  I  am  looking 
for  just  such  a  house.  After  settling  down  to  the 
peaceful  life  of  a  benedict,   I   arranged  to   study 

35 


law,  taking  a  Correspondence  Course,  and  the 
School  sending  out  the  work,  seemed  to  take  a  parti- 
cular interest  in  me,  on  account,  they  said,  of  the 
excellent  showing  made  every  examination,  and 
after  about  16  months  insisted  I  take  final  exami- 
nation, assuring  me  I  would  pass  the  Iowa  bar. 

I  have  seen  so  many  lawyers  since  that  time,  that 
there  is  no  question  in  my  mind  that  I  knew  more 
at  that  time,  than  some  of  them  who  are  practicing 
now,  with  a  lawyer  shingle  stuck  out  in  front  of 
the  place,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  should  read 
"Shyster".  I  have  the  very  highest  regard  for  the 
legal  talent;  number  dozens  of  them  among  my 
intimate  friends,  but  do  know  one  or  two,  whom 
the  above  sign  positively  would  portray. 

At  the  same  time  I  read  every  bankers  magazine 
that  come  to  our  desk  and  I  made  a  sincere  effort 
to  learn  the  banking  business  thoroly.  Studying  the 
habits  and  customs  of  the  boys  across  the  street 
at  the  other  bank,  in  the  hope  that  I  might  advance 
from  the  $60.00  per  month  I  was  drawing  at  that 
time  to  a  better  position,  altho  after  marrying  the 
boys  raised  the  pay  to  $75.00  feeling  that  the  say- 
ing "Two  can  live  as  cheap  as  one",  would  not  hold 
good  in  my  case,  for  with  my  ravenous  appetite 
groceries  cost  real  money. 

I  guess  I  studied  the  other  banks  a  little  to  much, 
for  I  watched  them  during  the  day,  seeing  that 
they  did  not  open  before  we  did,  nor  close  later 
than  we  did.    We  entered  into  an  agreemnet  with 

36 


them  that  we  would  close  in  the  future  at  4 :30 
which  agreement  lasted  about  one  week,  when  one 
evening  I  saw  a  customer  enter  their  bank  about  5 
bells. 

The  next  day  I  trotted  across  the  street  and  had 
it  out  with  their  Cashier  and  told  him  finally,  in 
no  uncertain  terms,  what  I  could  do  to  him  physi- 
cally, if  he  would  step  out  from  around  the  counter. 

After  that  we  got  along  much  better.  We  watched 
their  published  statements  closely;  compared  them 
with  ours  and  prided  ourselves  in  passing  them  up, 
sort  of  like  a  pay  car  does  a  tramp.. 

You  know,  I'd  quit  eating  ham  and  eggs  and 
apple  pie,  having  the  good  wife  to  cook  three 
squares  for  me.  About  that  time  a  customer  called, 
one  Tommy  Chonnell,  who  got  a  little  owley  about 
nothing  at  all,  I  promptly  proceeded  to  throw  him 
out  physically,  and  accomplished  my  purpose.  That 
was  fight  Number  One.  That  was  a  way  back  in 
1915.  You  see,  already  you  had  to  be  a  fighter  in 
the  banking  business. 

During  1916  Jim  Wilson  installed  a  Moving 
Picture  Machine  at  Farley.  The  town  turned  out 
en  masse.  Everybody  enjoyed  going,  watching  the 
reels  tear  about  15  times  of  an  evening  and  yet 
you'd  stick  around  and  watch  the  Show.  You'd 
go  home  disgusted  and  wish  you'd  stayed  home 
and  played  tiddle-winks.  But  weren't  we  a  Metropoli- 
tan little  town,  and  weren't  we  glad  we  had  a  Mov- 
ing Picture   Thee-a-ter?  when   about  all  you   saw 

37 


was  a  lot  of  Wild  West,  with  it's  cow-boys,  cow- 
girls, and  ponies.  You  bet,  everybody  went  to  the 
show.  You  see,  the  saloons  in  Iowa  had  gone  out 
of  business,  and  people  had  to  have  some  place  to 
spend  their  money. 

After  about  a  year  of  married  life  I  felt  I  wasn't 
getting  as  close  to  Rockefeller  as  I  had  hoped  a  few 
years  previous,  and  asked  the  boys  for  a  raise, 
stating  I  felt  I  should  be  getting  $100.00  a  month. 
They  said  they  felt  the  same  way  about  it,  but  at 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Board  no  such  resolution 
was  passed.  One  of  them  advised  me  a  day  later 
that  the  boys  felt  the  Undivided  Profit  Account 
sjiould  be  bolstered  up  a  little  higher  before  an  in- 
crease to  such  a  large  amount  would  be  justified. 
The  next  Board  meeting  came  and  again  I  took 
the  matter  up  with  them. 

You  see,  I  was  a  persistent  cuss,  I  left  the  meet- 
ing feeling  the  raise  would  come.  In  writing  up  the 
minutes  the  following  day  I  noticed  nothing  had 
been  done  about  it,  whereupon  I  talked  the  matter 
over  with  the  Cashier  who  felt  also  I  should  have 
that  salary,  saying  "I  know  you're  worth  it  Kid 
(he  always  called  me  that)  but  you  know  how  tight 
the  Board  is.  I'll  talk  to  them  myself  tho'  and  know 
they'll  pay  it.  " 

He  did.  Again  they  met.  And  again  they  felt  they 
would  make  the  raise  the  first  of  coming  year.  My 
persistency  didn't  get  me  there,  so  I  wired  the 
Business  Service  Company  at  Minneapolis  about  a 


position ;  furnished  them  with  plenty  of  recom- 
mendation; and  four  days  later  got  a  wire  from 
the  Browns  Valley  State  Bank,  Browns  Valley, 
Minnesota,  to  come  there  for  an  interview,  and  in 
the  event  the  interview  would  not  be  satisfactory 
they  would  refund  my  Railroad  fare.  In  justice  to 
Frank  I  told  him  of  the  wire,  when  he  assured  me 
they  would  surely  pay  me  what  I  asked  before 
they'd  let  me  go.  I  told  him  there  would  be  no 
use,  that  I  was  going  to  Browns  Valley  in  two  days, 
for  that  interview,  and  go  I  did. 

Mr.  Paul,  President  of  the  bank,  met  me  at  the 
train,  we  drove  to  the  bank,  and  after  about  30 
minutes,  he  decided  I  should  go  to  work  in  the 
morning;  that  he  and  Mrs.  Paul  were  leaving  for 
the  Cities  immediately  and  that  he  was  in  a  bit  of 
a  hurry.  I  told  him  it  would  be  impossible  for  me 
to  go  to  work  immediately;  that  I  had  a  family; 
had  a  lot  of  checking  accounts  that  needed  balancing, 
and  that  I  wouldn't  think  of  leaving  Frank  on  such 
short  notice  as  that.  He  was  quite  insistent  tho' 
and  so  was  I.  We  finally  compromised  on  two  weeks. 

I  returned  home  immediately,  balancing  all  the 
checking  accounts,  so  I  could  feel  I  had  left  them 
in  good  shape.  The  next  two  weeks  this  boy  was 
plenty  busy.  The  two  weeks  passed  by  hurriedly. 
The  day  of  my  departure  came.  I  was  offered  most 
every  inducement  to  stay;  I  could  have  the  pay  I 
asked  for;  the  Cashier  offered  to  give  me  his  In- 
surance business;  the  Directors  insisted,  but  hadn't 

39 


I  told  J.L.  Paul  I  would  be  there,  and  wouldn't  I 
stay  with  my  promise? 

I'm  carrying  an  excellent  gold  watch  (not  a  Walt- 
han  either)  all  inscribed,  as  a  token  of  esteem  from 
the  bank  I  first  became  associated  with,  a  token  I 
love;  one  that  nothing  could  buy;  a  token  that  re- 
calls many  happy,  pleasant  days,  spent  with  old 
Frank. 

The  day  of  my  departure  came;  many  of  the 
merchants  were  at  the  depot.  Frank  also.  As  he 
walked  over  to  shake  hands  with  me,  bidding  me 
goodbye,  large  tears  came  to  his  eyes;  he  turned 
on  his  heel,  and  walked  around  the  depot  without 
even  shaking  hands. 

Upon  my  arrival  at  the  Valley,  here  was  a  letter, 
one  of  the  finest  I  had  ever  read;  a  letter  written 
to  me  by  old  Frank  himself;  a  letter  I  have 
treasured  highly;  a  letter  voicing  appreciation  and 
love  with  every  good  wish  added,  and  you  believe 
me,  I've  thought  of  the  contents  of  that  letter  many 
a  time,  having  the  very  highest  regard  for  old 
Frank,  who  I  consider  absolutely  the  best  banker 
of  my  entire  acquaintanceship. 

Upon  my  arrival  at  the  Valley  I  purchased  a  5 
room  bungalow,  a  beatiful  little  home,  just  right 
for  friend  wife,  the  boy  Bob  and  I. 

A  Mrs.  Towie  lived  in  the  bungalow  under  a 
monthly  rental  plan,  and  refused  to  vacate  the 
premises.  A  few  days  later  I  took  the  Deed,  already 
recorded,  and  showed  it  to  her  and  yet  she  refused 

40 


to  leave.  I  explained  how  I'd  purchased  the  property 
and  all  that,  but  to  no  avail.  Finally  in  desperation 
I  told  her  in  plain  ordinary  English  what  I  proposed 
doing.  The  next  noon  I  was  stopped  at  the  office 
of  a  man  who  had  a  shingle  on  the  outside  "At- 
torney" who  immediately  began  to  berate  me  se- 
verely, telling  me  they  had  what  was  known  as  a 
Bastile  in  their  town  to  take  care  of  such  fellows 
as  me.  I  looked  him  over  good,  and  decided  he 
was  one  of  those  old  fossilized  old  cocks  who  passed 
the  bar  when  the  bar  didn't  mean  much  more  than 
a  saloon  bar,  but  did  tell  him  that  in  the  event  his 
clients  paraphernalia  wasn't  out  of  the  place  by 
tomorrow  noon,  I'd  throw  the  whole  dam  cheese 
out  into  the  street,  and  that  if  he  came  down  and 
attempted  to  interfere,  he's  be  tossed  right  out  with 
the  paraphernalia. 

The  lady  moved  the  next  morning,  and  the  Cashier 
of  the  Browns  Valley  State  Bank  moved  in. 


41 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Many  months  were  spent  in  getting  acquainted 
with  the  folks  of  the  community ;  fine  folks,  possess- 
ing that  fine  Western  Democratic  spirit. 

My  evenings  were  mostly  spent  in  the  bank, 
looking  over  and  getting  acquainted  with  the  various 
credit  lines,  and  by  the  end  of  30  days  I  could  name 
alphabetically  every  borrower,  and  the  approximate 
amount  he  owed  our  institution.  At  the  end  of  my 
first  four  months  the  President  of  the  bank  handed 
me  1100.00  with  the  statement  he  felt  he  owed  me 
that,  and  that  in  the  future  I  was  to  charge  up 
$125.00  per  month  for  myself.  The  close  of  our 
fiscal  year  February  1st  I  was  ordered  to  charge 
up  an  additional  $25.00  per  month  for  myself. 

Why,  I  was  doing  fine.  The  officers  of  the  insti- 
tution were  congenial;  we  were  happy,  the  banking 
business  was  good.  The  fall  and  winter  passed 
rather  uneventful.  The  wintry  blasts  would  blow 
around  the  little  bungalow,  the  Chinook  winds  of 
the  Northwest  appeared  every  few  days,  but  with 
the  hard-coal  burner  glowing  brightly,  some  Bank- 
ers magazine  to  read,  and  with  my  stenchy  pipe, 
I  was  sittin'  pretty. 

42 


The  spring  of  1917  came  early;  farmers  were  all 
out  getting  in  their  crop  of  wheat;  diversified 
farming  was  not  followed  to  any  great  extent  at 
that  time;  the  European  War  became  a  World  War 
of  April  that  year;  everybody  was  again  talking 
war,  for  well  they  had  reason  to  now,  for  weren't 
we  into  the  tick  of  it  now  ourselves?  Young 
and  old  gave  it  serious  consideration;  some  were 
downcast,  others  glad  we  joined  hands  with  the 
Allies  in  the  hope  that  with  our  assistance  the  war 
would  soon  be  brought  to  an  end. 

Directly  the  banks  were  asked,  would  they  assist 
in  the  sale  of  bonds,  for  wouldn't  money  as  well  as 
men  be  required?  And  wouldn't  the  banks  be  willing 
to  lend  their  every  assistance  in  bringing  funds  to 
the  Government?  Why,  of  course  they  would.  The 
first  issue  of  June  1917  didn't  mean  much  to  the 
public.  The  investment  institutions  of  the  country 
were  expected  to  absorb  the  greater  portion  of  that 
first  issue  of  bonds;  altho  every  banker  was  asked 
to  get  out  and  sell  a  few  to  help  educate  the  public. 
What  a  mistake  it  was  for  us  bankers  to  go  out  and 
educate  them  for  haven't  they  been  out  buying 
bonds  ever  since,  instead  of  leaving  their  funds 
in  your  bank  to  assist  the  local  community  in  its 
own  upbuilding?  When  the  agricultural  crash  came 
in  Iowa,  you  men  know  where  surplus  funds  were 
sent. 

I  went  out  and  tried  to  sell,  in  June  1917,  real 
honest    to    pat    good,    United    States    Government 

43 


Bonds.  I  took  the  little  Ford  (they  didn't  build 
them  big  like  noiv)  and  drove  Northeast  into  a  terri- 
tory of  mostly  Yankees  and  Swedes  (/  wouldn't 
dare  go  Northwest,  for  I  knew  they  wouldn't  want 
to  buy  bonds  to  fight  Germany,  for  they  told  me  so) . 
A  terrible  wind  arose  that  first  afternoon  and 
the  bank's  little  Ford  couldn't  buck  the  stiff  wind, 
so  on  account  of  lack  of  power  (like  every  other 
old  Ford)  I  pulled  to  one  side  of  the  road  until  the 
wind  would  subside.  A  farmer  cultivating  corn 
drove  up  to  the  road,  rested  his  horses  and  came 
over  to  me.  I  sold  him  a  $50.00  bond,  after  about 
2  hours  of  explaining  and  agreed  to  take  as  part 
payment  a  little  brown  mare,  which  seemed  to  have 
its  tongue  about  severed  from  eating  wild  barley. 
Two  weeks  later  I  delivered  and  so  did  he.  I  had 
the  local  Vet  take  care  of  the  little  mare,  dig  a  lot 
of  stuff  out  of  her  mouth  and  about  two  months 
later  sold  her  for  $65.00.  My  first  day  of  selling 
United  States  Government  Bonds  paid  me  quite 
well  at  that.  Hustle  as  I  would  I  did  not  seem  able 
to  sell  many  of  the  bonds,  so  rather  than  run  around 
the  country  soliciting,  we  bought  the  whole  darn 
allotment.  (Yes,  allotments  were  in  order  already) 
and  carried  them  among  the  assets  of  our  bank, 
and  why  not?  Couldn't  we  take  the  interest  received 
on  United  States  Government  Bonds,  and  deduct 
such  amount  from  our  net  income,  for  income  tax 
purposes.  Why  sure,  we  thought  we  could,  until  a 
few   years   later   when   the   Revenue   man   checked 

44 


your  last  years  return,  you  found  you  were  all  wet, 
and  were  compelled  to  pay  an  additional  tax  and 
a  penalty  as  well.  Many  a  hot  letter  was  exchanged 
between  the  writer  and  a  Revenue  Office,  with  the 
result  that  mine  was  the  last  one  to  go  thru,  for  we 
never  heard  anymore  about  it. 

From  that  time  up  to  and  including  the  date  of 
the  Armistice  we  were  kept  busy  trying  to  sell 
bonds;  asking  our  depositors  to  withdraw  their 
money  and  buy  bonds;  help  feed  the  boys  over 
there;  and  help  feed  the  ship-builders  as  well,  and 
now  and  then  incurring  the  everlasting  enmity  of 
the  customer  until  you  hardly  knew  what  to  do  with 
yourself,  and  you  felt  like  telling  the  boys  at  Wash- 
ington to  goto. 

Didn't  you  keep  a  record  of  this  purchase,  of 
this  installment  payment  and  that,  adding  a  lot  of 
red  tape  and  accounting  to  your  already  large 
amount  of  work,  all  for  the  Government?  Weren't 
we  glad  to  do  that  and  weren't  you?  Of  course  we 
were,  little  dreaming  that  our  campaign  of  bond 
selling  would  lead  up  to  in  after  years. 

In  spite  of  urging  people  to  take  their  money  and 
buy  bonds,  our  deposits  steadily  mounted  leaving 
their  total  of  $265,000.00  in  1916  and  amounting 
to  about  half  a  million  in  1919. 

However,  none  of  us  figured  on  the  day  of  reckon- 
ing. We  did  not  stop  to  think  that  the  money  so 
spent  for  bonds  was  being  taken  out  of  circulation, 
locally,  and  that  as  soon  as  funds  were  again  needed 

45 


the  public  would  use  their  capital  already  in  the 
banks,  allowing  their  bond  holdings  to  stand,  until 
when  a  few  years  later  some  of  the  banks  thruout 
the  agricultural  sections  began  to  crack,  the  dear 
public  felt  they  were  secure  with  their  bonds,  and 
used  every  dollar  of  the  funds,  they  had  in  the  bank, 
bleeding  them  virtually  to  death,  but  leaving  their 
money  in  bonds,  for  wasn't  it  safer  there  than  in 
any  bank?  So  they  felt.  You  all  know  the  result. 
When  Sherman  said  "War  is  hell"  he  said  a  mouth- 
ful, and  while  it  was  hard,  yes  very  hard,  on  the 
parents  of  the  good  boys  who  went  across  and 
harder  yet  on  the  boys  themselves,  yet  the  banker 
suffered  here  at  home  as  well,  and  has  continued 
to  suffer  in  the  agricultural  sections. 

During  the  war  I  took  time,  in  the  face  of  the 
large  amount  of  clerical  work  we  had  to  do,  to  write 
the  boys  over  there,  and  was  given  credit  for  many 
of  them  for  passing  more  news  of  interest  to  them, 
than  the  local  paper,  the  editor  of  which  reprinted 
a  letter  written  by  one  of  the  boys  over  there, 
stating  that  he  had  had  short-arm  inspection  that 
morning.  The  Editor,  a  Veteran  of  the  Spanish- 
American  War,  reprinted  it,  giving  most  of  the 
Community  a  good  laugh. 

The  summer  of  1918  saw  an  evangelist  come  to 
our  peaceful  Village,  calling  himself  Aldrich.  He 
called  at  the  bank  one  nice  warm  morning  and 
opened  an  account.  Seemed  a  very  pleasant  fellow, 
and    advised  he    expected  to    have  a    mighty  fine 

46 


account  before  leaving  town.  I  told  him  that  the 
Churches  of  the  town  were  very  active  and  that 
I  didn't  believe  he  would  do  so  well  here.  To  which 
he  replied  "If  I  don't  take  $1500.00  out  of  this 
town,  I'll  be  badly  fooled".  I  wished  him  luck,  of- 
course  and  said  I  hoped  he  could  make  it  $2500.00. 
The  first  night  the  meeting  opened  under  a  large 
tent,  shipped  in  for  the  purpose.  Feeling  that  a 
little  revivaling  mightn't  do  me  any  harm,  I  decided 
to  attend  the  meeting.  I'd  been  a  regular  Church 
goer  but  felt  a  little  insertion  of  more  Christianity 
couldn't  hurt  me  much  more,  so  invited  a  friend  to 
accompany  me.  For  two  hours  we  listened  to  the 
biggest  blood  and  thunder  oration  I'd  ever  heard. 
As  an  orator,  he  was  there.  As  an  acrobat  he  was 
there  twice  over.  Again  the  second  night  I  attended. 
The  Call  was  made,  and  up  walks  a  fellow  to  be  con- 
verted, who'd  had  a  shipment  of  books  expressed 
in  sometime  previous,  a  shipment  that  leaked  a 
little.  Yet,  he  was  converted,  carrying  his  pam- 
phlets around  under  his  arm.  The  following 
morning  one  of  the  little  boys  of  the  town  walked 
across  the  street  to  Herman  Burnett's  place  with 
a  pail  for  water.  Herman  saw  the  boy  and  asked 
"What  are  you  doing,  carrying  water  for  the  ele- 
phants?" Two  minutes  following  the  return  of  the 
boy  the  revivalist  was  on  the  job  and  dared  Herman 
out  into  the  street  to  tell  him  the  same  thing.  Guess 
Herman  felt  the  man  meant  what  he  said,  for  he 
did  NOT  go  into  the  street. 

47 


That  evening  a  meeting  was  held  in  the  square 
one  block  up  the  street.  Poor  old  Pat  came  in  for 
his  share  of  the  abuse.  Rave  and  lambast  was  the 
gospel.  I  don't  know  the  Chapter,  but  old  Pat  didn't 
care.  The  Revivalist  said,  "I've  been  accused  of 
saying  I  was  going  to  take  S1500.00  out  of  this 
town  with  me,  I'm  going  to  take  all  the  vice  out 
with  me  and  not  S1500.00,  but  a  darn  side  more 
than  that."  There  he  was  swearing  himself.  It  took 
the  town  about  a  week  to  settle  down  to  the  peace- 
ful little  community  it  was.  I  found  out  later  that 
it  didn't  require  a  Revivalist  in  some  towns  to  stir 
up  a  mess.  In  some  places  just  a  common  ordinary 
fry  can  do  that,  and  he  usually  isn't  an  Orator  nor 
an  Acrobat  either. 

The  Commercial  Club,  while  not  active  excepting 
to  raise  its  membership  took  a  very  active  part  in 
seeing  the  boys  off  to  War,  and  in  welcoming  them 
back  to  the  front.  Well  do  I  remember  the  little 
Brass  Band  we  had  of  some  18  pieces,  when  one  by 
one  they  would  go  into  the  service,  until  nothing 
was  left  of  our  little  band,  but  a  drummer,  one 
cornet  player,  and  two  trombone  players.  The  scene 
enacted  when  the  last  contingent  left  the  Valley 
for  battle,  was  one  that  this  writer  shall  never 
forget.  Being  present  at  all  of  those  events,  and 
noting  the  dwindling  of  the  little  band,  made  one 
wonder  what  War  was  all  about. 

I  was  elected  Camp  Clerk  of  the  M.  W.  A.  and 
blessed  with  a  lot  of  rotten  luck,  in  trying  to  collect 

48 


dues,  and  in  desperation  ousted  almost  half  the 
camp,  many  of  them  ready  to  go  to  war.  It  was  a 
desperate  move  on  my  part,  but  one  that  brought 
dues  in  regularly  after  that.  The  local  Camp  would 
absorb  the  dues  of  the  boys  in  the  service,  and  the 
local  Camp  had  plenty  tough  going  for  some  time. 

Help  was  hard  to  get,  competent  help,  I  should 
have  said.  One  after  another  of  our  young  men 
would  go  into  the  service,  necessitating  employing 
another.  Once  I  hired  an  old  maid  school-teacher 
apparently  a  smart  girl,  about  35  years  of  age, 
having  taught  the  Deestrict  School  some  10  or  12 
years.  At  least,  I  reckoned  I  had  a  book-keeper, 
one  who  would  not  have  to  go  to  War;  one  who 
would  stay  with  us,  and  she  did  for  some  months 
until  shortly  after  the  signing  of  the  Armistice. 

Very  positively  do  I  recall  the  children  marching 
up  the  street  to  the  music  of  what  was  left  of  the 
local  band,  thru  slush,  rain  and  sleet,  the  day  the 
Armistice  was  first  falsely  reported,  with  she  and  I 
standing  at  the  front  window  of  the  bank  watching 
the  Parade  of  school  children,  wending  their  way 
by  the  bank,  down  our  Broadway,  when  she  up  and 
said  "Aint  it  going  to  be  wonderful  if  some  of  those 
children  don't  catch  Ammonia  ?"  "Catch  what",  I 
asked.  "Ammonia"  she  repeated.  Ye  Gods!  and  she 
a  school  ma'am  for  ten  years.  Sometime  previous  I 
had  her  explaining  the  difference  between  a  canta- 
loupe and  a  mushmellon.  Oh,  boy!  it  was  good. 
Anyway,  she  was  just  a  fair  book-keeper,  if  I  would 

49 


catch  her  error  in  proving  out  her  work.  For  some 
reason  she  never  could  quite  savvy  the  proof  of  a 
posting  machine.  The  overdrafts  got  her  all  bawled 
up  as  she  said.  The  truth  was,  I  don't  believe  she 
knew  what  an  overdraft  meant.  I  tied  the  can  to 
her  that  winter. 

It  was  during  that  War  period  that  many  of  us 
bankers  were  called  upon  to  act  as  Four  Minute 
Men.  I  was  one.  I  learned  how  to  address  a  crowd 
fairly  well.  Sure,  we  were  glad  to  do  anything 
possible  to  help.  Giving  you  just  a  little  more  work. 
Land  knows,  we  had  enough,  but  I  guess  we  were 
gluttons  for  work.  Everything  was  rosy  and  we 
didn't  mind  the  work.  You  know,  we  didn't  have 
to  get  in  there  and  actually  work,  like  we  later  did. 
The  real  work  was  still  in  cards. 

Neither  will  you  forget  the  upward  trend  taken 
by  wheat,  grains  of  all  kinds,  hogs  and  cattle,  every- 
thing went  sky  high.  The  farmer  was  making  a 
lot  of  money;  he  felt  his  oats;  he  bought  a  new 
Flivver,  and  sometimes  bigger  than  that;  wasn't  he 
making  a  lot  of  money,  and  wasn't  he  entitled  to 
spend  his  own  money?  More  money  than  the  banker 
knew  what  to  do  with  was  brought  into  the  country, 
necessitating  to  purchase  of  Outside  Paper.  A  lot 
of  you  bankers  have  heard  the  expression  of  "Out- 
side Paper"  before.  Every  banker  bought  outside 
paper,  for  wasn't  he  paying  a  lot  of  interest  to  the 
depositors,  and  needed  to  keep  his  money  working? 
We  bought  it.    The  Examiner  would  come  along, 

50 


pat  you  on  the  back,  and  tell  you  you-re  a  good 
banker  to  keep  your  funds  working  like  you  did. 
We  didn't  realize  at  the  time  that  this  Outside  Paper 
was  going  to  be  overdone  shortly,  and  that  just 
about  that  shortly,  the  examiner  might  also  be 
thinking  differently,  and  start  raising  Cain  about  it. 
Last  year  he  complimented  you  for  keeping  your 
funds  working;  this  year  he  marked  them  up 
"Collect".  After  he's  gone  you  use  your  judgment 
about  that  little  thing,  do  you?  If  you  know  the 
maker  to  be  good  "Well  that's  alright,  he"ll  pay  it,  if 
you  know  he  isn't  good,  you  don't  need  to  be  told  so 
again,  when  all  the  time  you  worry  and  know  it 
isn't  good,  and  know  more  about  the  line,  in  and 
out,  and  all  around,  than  does  any  transient.  But 
then,  they  must  earn  their  money.  If  they  couldn't 
pay  compliments,  they'd  criticise.  However,  let  me 
add  right  here,  that  those  boys  have  also  been  edu- 
cated, the  same  as  you  and  I ;  that  the  boys  in  that 
line  of  work  know  their  groceries  now;  that  the 
Banking  Departments  of  the  various  Agricultural 
States  have  been  brought  to  a  much  higher  plane  of 
efficiency ;  that  the  spirit  of  co-operation  manifested 
by  them  the  last  few  years  makes  it  possible  to  co- 
operate instead  of  antagonizing. 


51 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  winter  of  1918  and  1919  saw  us  with  oodles 
of  money  but  our  Scotch  President  felt  a  day  of 
reckoning  might  come,  and  we'd  better  hang  on  to 
a  nice  reserve,  and  the  bank  continued  along  that 
line  up  to  this  time.  Never  a  promotion  note  found 
its  way  into  our  bank.  Much  as  this  Scotchman 
liked  to  bush  'em,  he  couldn't  quite  conclude  that 
the  buying  of  stock  in  enterprises  away  from  your 
own  home  would  ever  be  profitable.  He  confined 
himself  to  his  own  real  estate  and  town  property, 
which  he  had  owned  for  years,  something  he  could 
watch  with  his  own  eyes,  and  something  that  actually 
was  SOMETHING  and  not  a  lot  of  blue  sky  as 
many  of  us  later  learned.  His  son  Bill  and  I  how- 
ever, were  not  quite  so  conservative,  and  stepped 
up  and  bought  a  little,  yes,  just  a  little.  It  kept  Bill 
and  I  busy  operating  our  cars,  altho'  both  of  us 
laid  aside  a  little  every  month.  I  did  buy  a  few 
shares  of  stock  in  the  Friend  Motor  Co.,  pictured 
as  a  coming  second  Ford  enterpries,  just  two  shares. 

It  fell  by  the  wayside  very  soon  however,  and  it 
didn't  take  me  long  after  that  to  turn  down  those 
high-pressure  birds.  We  were  immune,  and  so  was 
the  other  banker  in  our  town,  and  the  stock  sales- 

52 


man  didn't  do  much  around  that  town.  A  white 
collared  slicker  dropped  into  town  however,  about 
that  time  and  slipped  a  few  shares  of  Pam  Motor 
Co.  over  on  the  boys.  The  boys  were  going  to  get 
rich  quick;  paid  something  like  $15.00  a  share  and 
it  surely  was  going  to  go  to  $10,000.00  a  share  in 
less  than  ten  years.  Why  shouldn't  every  Min- 
nesotan  and  Northwestern  man  buy  his  car  right 
here  in  Minnesota,  instead  of  patronizing  the  East; 
why  not  keep  this  money  right  here  in  Minnesota; 
build  up  our  own  State  and  let  the  east  take  care 
of  itself?  If  the  people  would  do  that,  and  there 
was  no  question  but  they  would,  for  didn't  they 
live  in  Minnesota  and  wasn't  every  resident  of  the 
State  true  to  his  own  State? 

It  developed  later  on  that  instead  of  the  purchas- 
ers being  Gophers  they  were  Suckers.  I'm  a  little 
ahead  of  my  story  {they  were  just  mild  suckers, 
the  day  of  the  real  sucker  was  yet  to  come) .  A  few 
of  the  high  pressure  boys  were  out  ahead  of  the 
Hatchery,  the  main  office  of  which  was  at  Des 
Moines.  Many  things  were  hatched  down  there,  in 
1918  already  spreading  out  its  octopus  tentacles. 

By  June  1919  I  wished  to  take  a  little  vacation, 
driving  from  the  Valley  on  June  28th  1919  for 
Farley  to  visit  the  folks  back  home,  as  well  as 
many  of  my  friends  at  Farley  and  vicinity.  The 
two  day  trip  was  uneventful.  We  arrived  at  Farley 
on  June  30th  and  found  a  deserted  Village.  Every- 
one was  at  East  Dubuqne,  for  it  was  the  last  day 

53 


saloons  were  allowed  to  operate  (legally)  thruout  the 
United  States.  You  see,  prior  to  that  time,  Govern- 
ment had  gotten  everyone's  money  in  the  way  of 
selling  them  Liberty  Bonds,  so  what  was  the  use 
of  having  any  more  saloons?  so  Volstead  arranged 
to  close  them  up  until  they  got  some  more. 

Still  being  a  total  abstainer  and  having  no  desire 
to  go  to  East  Dubuqne  I  decided  to  lay  around  in 
the  shade  until  evening;  get  a  good  night's  sleep 
and  then  mozey  around  the  town,  looking  for  some 
of  my  old  friends.  After  laying  around  a  while, 
I  decided  to  drive  to  East  Dubuque  anyway,  which 
I  did.  leaving  the  wife  and  Bob  at  her  mother's 
home.  Being  late  it  was  mighty  hard  to  get  a  place 
to  park;  I  must  have  parked  half  a  mile  out  of 
town  and  walked  back.  I  don't  know  how  many 
saloons  they  had,  but  I  do  know  the  town  was  full 
of  them.  The  first  I  entered  contained  a  few  of  my 
friends;  we  traveled  around  and  caught  up  with  a 
few  more  of  the  boys,  many  of  them  almost  un- 
conscious, and  made  the  town.  'I  took  a  drink; 
tasted  like  the  devil;  took  another  a  little  later  it 
wasn't  quite  so  bad;  about  an  hour  later  I  took  an- 
other; tasted  better.  You  know,  my  regular  sense 
of  taste  wasn't  there  anymore.  My  tongue  wasn't 
used  to  being  contaminated  with  anything  but  good 
food  and  clear  water.  That  night  the  town  was 
treated  quite  rough.  The  gang,  not  ours,  got  wild. 
They  commenced  to  break  the  town  jail.  They  asked 

54 


"What's  the  use  of  having  anymore  jails  with  the 
saloons  out  of  business  ?" 

They  run  part  of  the  town  fire  apparatus  into 
the  Mississippi  River.  They  wouldn't  need  that 
either  after  the  country  was  dry.  Little  did  they 
stop  to  think  that  the  boot-legger,  previously  un- 
known, would  be  on  the  job,  and  that  the  days  of 
the  jail  were  NOT  over  with.  For  it's  a  fact  that 
the  Reformatories  and  Pens  are  more  crowded 
today  than  in  the  days  of  the  saloons!  I'm  not  for 
them,  but  isn't  it  a  fact?  Ask  any  Warden  of  any 
of  our  Penal  Institutions.  I  have  personal  acquain- 
tanceship with  a  few  of  them,  and  my  contention 
is  simply  a  verification  of  their  statement. 

We  drove  to  Farley  that  evening  and  the  next 
24  days  were  spent  in  visiting  our  friends,  and  well 
do  I  recall  the  many  pleasant  visits  we  had.  The 
people  of  the  town  and  community  were  wonderful, 
everyone  glad  to  see  us,  welcoming  us  back  with 
almost  open  arms.  Parties  were  the  order  of  the 
day ;  one  after  another,  until  I  was  glad  it  was  over 
so  I  could  return  to  my  work  at  Browns  Valley. 

However,  while  on  this  vacation  at  Farley  some 
of  the  Directors  of  the  Bellevue  State  Bank  made  a 
trip  to  see  me,  and  wished  to  engage  me  as  the 
Cashier  of  their  bank  at  Bellevue.  For  many  years 
previous  some  of  >their  Board  of  Directors  had 
known  me  personally,  for  in  1915,  about  April  25th, 
I  went  to  Bellevue  and  helped  them  get  started  in 
their  new  bank,   organized  by   Mr.   N.   J.   Faring. 

55 


At  that  time  I  spent  about  ten  days  assisting  in  the 
opening  of  new  accounts,  purchasing  additional 
equipment,  and  helping  to  get  things  generally 
going. 

When  the  Directors  heard  of  my  presence  in 
Farley  they  made  the  trip,  requesting  an  interview 
with  me,  with  a  view  to  employing  me,  for  the 
reason  that  their  present  Cashier  had  become  as- 
sociated with  a  Finance  Company  in  Des  Moines, 
which  Company  I  shall  call  the  Guaranty  Mortgage 
Company,  in  the  capacity  of  Vice-President.  I  had 
quite  a  lengthy  interview  with  men  on  that  day  and 
could  hardly  decide  whether  to  accept  or  not.  I  took 
into  consideration  the  fact  that  I  had  a  very  good 
salary ;  got  an  annual  bonus  of  no  small  proportions, 
and  could  not  make  the  decision  at  that  time,  ad- 
vising their  Board  I  would  take  the  matter  under 
consideration  and  advise  them  at  a  later  date. 

So  friend  wife,  Bob  and  I  left  for  the  Valley  in 
a  few  days. 


56 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

It  was  while  on  this  vacation  that  the  land  boom 
in  Iowa,  gained  impetus,  June  1919.  People  lost 
all  sense  of  values;  paid  most  any  kind  of  a  price 
for  farms ;  almost  breaking  their  necks  to  purchase 
a  piece  of  land  before  it  was  all  gone.  Most  every 
man  was  spending  his  time  running  around  the 
country  looking  over  this  farm  or  that ;  buying  this 
one  for  $140.00  per  acre,  and  selling  his  contract 
a  few  days  later  on  a  basis  of  §175.00  an  acre,  and 
in  many  cases  more;  this  fellow  would  contract  to 
pay  $200.00  per  acre,  paying  an  initial  payment 
in  the  form  of  a  promisory  note  to  be  due,  without 
interest,  on  the  coming  March  1st  1920,  when  the 
settlement  would  be  made.  He  forthwith  proceeded 
to  try  and  interest  another  party  in  the  purchase 
which  was  hardly  necessary,  for  men  came  to  him 
asked  him  how  much  profit  would  he  take  on  his 
contract  ? 

Ofcourse,  he  would  sell  out  at  an  advance  of 
$25.00  an  acre.  They  would  promptly  proceed  to 
the  bank  and  ask  the  Cashier  to  make  up  the  con- 
tract for  them,  which  he  gladly  did.  The  latter 
purchaser  would  sit  and  pray  that  he  would  be 
fortunate  to  find  another  buyer  at  an  advance  of 

57 


another  $25.00  an  acre,  which  he  did  in  many  cases, 
bringing  the  settlement  price  of  that  particular 
farm  to  $275.00  an  acre  from  an  original  purchase 
price  of  S140.00  an  acre.  Oh!,  you  bet  your  life, 
everybody  was  making  money.  Everybody  was 
happy,  excepting  the  poor  owner  who  originally 
sold  for  $140.00  an  acre.  He  kicked  himself  for 
selling  so  rotten  cheap,  and  hollored  his  head  off 
for  every  having  made  the  deal. 

The  more  he  thought  about  it,  the  madder  he  got, 
until  he  decided  he  wasn't  getting  enough  out  of 
the  whole  deal,  so  he  decided  he  would  go  out  and 
buy  another  farm  for  himself,  and  make  some 
money  too.  He  learned  that  the  land  he  thought  he 
could  buy  for  §150.00  an  acre  had  suddenly,  almost 
over  night  as  it  were,  gone  up  to  $200.00  and  in 
many  cases  more  than  that.  He'd  heard  of  so  much 
money  being  made  by  everybody  dabbling  in  land, 
that  he  wanted  to  make  some  of  it  himself,  so  what 
was  there  to  do  but  buy  the  farm  for  $200.00  an 
acre,  which  he  did,  signing  a  contract  with  the 
owner,  at  the  bank  {Oh!  yes,  the  banker  still  was 
drawing  the  contracts)  giving  his  note  for  $1000.00, 
without  interest,  to  be  due  March  1st  1920  when  the 
settlement  was  to  be  made. 

That's  the  way  matters  continued  thruout  the 
agricultural  sections  until  the  pyramiding  of  prices 
almost  made  men  nuts.  The  banker  sat  at  his  desk, 
watched  the  entire  proceedings,  and  commenced 
berating  himself,  for  working  for  this  or  that  in- 

58 


stitution  at  a  measely  salary,  when  everybody  else 
was  making  money  hand  over  fist,  until  he  too 
became  obsessed  with  the  idea  of  making  some  easy 
money,  and  promptly  went  out  and  looked  at  a  few 
of  the  farms  himself.  In  some  cases  he  bought; 
made  a  quick  shuffle  and  sat  back  prepared  to  take 
his  profit  out  of  the  deal  when  the  papers  would  be 
exchanged  on  the  March  1st  following. 

Matters  continued  along  those  lines  for  most  of 
the  summer,  and  for  some  reason  people  soon  forgot 
there  was  such  a  date  as  March  1st  coming.  It  came 
tho\ 

I  returned  to  Browns  Valley,  glad  to  get  back 
to  work;  telling  the  boys  about  the  pyramiding  of 
land  values  in  Iowa,  but  our  little  Scotch  President 
sat  back  and  listened  to  it  all,  wondering  what  was 
going  to  happen  and  wondering  what  it  was  all 
about.  You  see,  he  owned  quite  a  few  farms  in  his 
territory,  and  while  glad  to  see  such  an  event,  yet 
seemed  far  sighted  enough,  to  lay  off  himself.  He 
didn't  go  out  and  buy  any  land  at  that  time.  You  see, 
he  was  making  his  little  profit  every  year,  realized 
he  couldn't  make  all  the  money  in  the  world  and 
was  willing  let  the  other  fellow  have  his  share  too. 

After  being  back  on  the  job  about  ten  days  I 
received  a  letter  with  reference  to  the  interview  I 
had  had  at  Farley  sometime  previous,  urging  me 
to  accept  the  position.  After  talking  the  matter 
over  thoroly  with  friend  wife,  we  decided  to  move. 

The  following  evening   I   walked  to   Mr.   Paul's 

59 


home  and  advised  him  of  the  telegram  I  had  received 
that  day  with  reference  to  another  position;  that 
the  Board  had  interviewed  me  while  on  my  vacation, 
and  seemed  to  be  anxious  to  have  me  accept  the 
position.  Probably  I  should  call  it  a  Job,  for  that's 
what  it  developed  into.  Mr.  Paul's  immediate  reply 
was  that  while  I  was  on  my  vacation  he  had  a  hunch 
that  something  of  the  kind  would  develop,  and  for 
that  reason  was  sorry  he  had  given  me  such  a  long 
vacation.  He  seemed  a  little  put  out  about  my 
going;  asked  whether  a  very  substantial  increase 
in  salary  would  be  any  inducement  for  me  to  stay 
with  him,  and  I  had  to  advise  him  of  the  decision 
we  had  made  to  go. 

His  wife,  during  the  interview,  asked  me  a 
number  of  times  to  stay  with  Roy,  but  being  more 
or  less  strong-minded  I  told  him  my  answer  was 
final  and  could  not  be  changed;  that  by  taking  the 
position  I  would  be  closer  to  our  people,  especially 
so  since  the  good  wife  had  had  a  serious  major 
operation  previous  February  at  the  Graceville 
Hospital.  It  was  at  the  time  of  this  operation  that 
I  received  the  first  real  shock  of  my  life,  not  real- 
izing that  the  future  had  a  good  many  more  in 
store  for  me. 

The  wife  was  operated  on  late  in  the  evening. 
The  boy  and  myself,  going  to  the  hotel  late  at  night. 
Being  unable  to  sleep  I  arose  early  the  next  morning 
tucking  the  little  lad  well  under  the  covers,  and 
proceeded  down  to  the  lobby  of  the  hotel.    When 

60 


about  half  way  down,  I  saw  an  aged  lady  scrubbing ; 
the  door  opened,  Ole  Lien  a  real  estate  salesman, 
pushed  his  head  in  the  door  and  asked  who  the  lady 
from  Browns  Valley  was,  who  died  at  the  Hospital 
last  night.  Ye  Gods!  I  got  weak,  but  having  con- 
siderable physical  resistance  I  soon  recovered  and 
tore  for  the  hospital. 

The  night  nurse,  seeing  my  excitement,  refused 
to  allow  me  to  see  the  wife.  I  told  her  of  what 
I'd  heard  down  town  a  few  minutes  ago,  but  she 
insisted  it  was  another  lady  who  had  been  brought 
over  during  the  night.  I  wouldn't  believe  it.  After 
promising  her  I  would  be  quiet,  she  accompained 
me  to  the  sick  room,  and  you  believe  me,  I  was  glad 
to  see  the  Kid  alive.  Seeing  her  alive,  I  came  back 
to  normal  quickly,  and  returned  to  the  hotel.  When 
a  shock  of  that  kind  comes  to  you,  you  can  ap- 
preciate how  I  felt.  I've  had  plenty  of  shocks  since 
that  time  tho'  and  no  doubt  so  have  you. 

After  finishing  my  conference  with  Mr.  Paul  I 
returned  home  and  for  less  than  2  cents  would  have 
staid.  That's  where  I  was  a  fool.  Our  business 
had  been  fine,  yes  very  fine;  our  reputation  in  the 
community  was  of  the  very  highest ;  it  was  enviable ; 
a  reputation  enjoyed  by  our  officers,  personally, 
as  well  as  the  bank.  My  environments  about  the 
institution  were  everything  a  person  might  wish 
for.  Why  take  an  another  position?  Yet  the 
deposits  of  the  institution  with  which  I  was  about 
to  become  associated,  were  about  $800,000.00  con- 

61 


stantly  going  up,  and  weren't  the  possibilities  of 
making  money,  and  at  the  same  time  render  a 
service  to  the  community,  greater  with  a  larger 
bank?  Of  course  they  were.  Whereupon  a  positive 
decision  was  reached  to  accept  the  Job.  The  follow- 
ing morning  I  wired  my  acceptance  and  agreed  to 
be  at  Bellevue  on  September  15th. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  solicitude ;  the  well  wishes 
of  the  Valley  people.  To  a  person  almost,  joy  and 
happines  as  well  as  success  was  wished  to  us. 
Parties  of  farewell  were  in  order  the  last  week. 
We  were  busy  preparatory  to  moving  and  were 
almost  worn  out  when  driving  out  of  town  with  our 
Velie  Chummy  Roadster;  furniture  and  other 
personal  things  had  been  shipped  a  few  days  previ- 
ous. 

Arriving  at  Bellevue,  located  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  I  saw  one  of  the  prettiest  towns  I  have  ever 
seen.  A  town  beautifully  situated  on  the  west  banks 
of  the  River.  In  viewing  the  Island  out  in  the  River, 
I  took  note  of  the  Steam-boat  landing  and  admired 
it  very  much.  Thru  the  personal  efforts  of  Rexall 
Ragatz  a  beautiful  concrete  stairway  had  been  con- 
structed, leading  from  the  street  down  to  the  very 
edge  of  the  water.  The  Park  joining  this  Stairway 
was  beautiful,  well  kept  by  a  paid  custodian.  The 
water  looked  beautiful ;  still  and  placid.  To  the  south 
the  sun  was  casting  its  rays  over  the  stream;  the 
foliage  on  the  trees  on  the  Island  presented  a  picture 
the  like  of  which  are  few. 

62 


I  couldn't  help  but  marvel  at  the  wonders  of 
nature.  Directly  behind  me  were  the  hills;  all  im- 
mense and  green,  and  I  couldn't  help  but  feel  that 
God  must  have  chosen  such  a  site  for  a  town. 

After  shaking  hands  all  around  with  the  force, 
which  at  that  time  was  made  up  of  the  Cashier  N. 
J.  Faring,  Eldred  F.  Graaff,  A.  G.  Kieffer  and 
Henry  Graaff,  the  latter  three  being  assistants,  I 
proceeded  to  acclimate  myself  and  get  acquainted 
with  the  general  atmosphere  of  the  place.  Some 
few  minutes  later  a  very  cocky  individual,  dressed 
in  light  gray  top  coat,  and  a  slouch  hat  perched  on 
the  left  side  of  his  head,  walking  with  a  swagger  I 
could  not  help  but  notice,  slid  in  to  the  bank,  where- 
upon Mr.  Faring  introduced  me  to  the  pompous 
bird  as  being  Mr.  O'Myra,  appearing  like  a  cock 
of  the  walk. 

He  immediately  started  working  on  me,  for 
wasn't  he  on  a  commission  basis,  and  shouldn't  he 
work  right  quick,  helping  this  same  Cashier,  sell 
lots  and  lots  (/  don't  mean  real  estate)  of  Stock  in 
the  Guaranty  Mortgage  Co,  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa, 
of  which  Company  this  Mr.  Faring  was  to  be  the 
future  Vice-President?  Didn't  Mr.  O'Myra  tell  me 
they  had  sold  bushels  and  bushels  of  stock  and  would 
sell  a  lot  more?  Didn't  he  tell  me  you  didn't  have 
to  have  any  money  to  buy  stock  in  this  Company? 
That  the  earnings  would  be  terrific?  That  the 
purchaser  could  give  his  notes  in  payment?  That 
he  probably  never  would  hear  anything  more  about 

63 


the  notes?  That  the  dividende  would  far  more  than 
pay  the  interest  on  the  notes?  And  that  the  balance 
of  the  dividend  could  be  paid  on  the  principal,  and 
in  that  way  the  loan  would  liquidate  itself  (We 
bankers  didn't  know  what  liquidation  meant  those 
days  and  neither  did  anyone  else.) 

Didn't  he  say  that  Mr.  Parot,  the  President  of 
this  fine,  big  Company,  had  chosen,  yes  personally 
chosen  Mr.  Faring  as  the  Vice-president,  because 
he  had  built  such  an  enviable  reputation  as  a 
banker  for  himself?  Didn't  he  tell  me  that  Nic,  as 
he  called  him,  would  be  a  power  in  the  Field  of 
Finance?  and  wouldn't  stay  there  long?  That  his 
ability  was  bound  to  be  recognized  and  that  Higher 
Finance  would  soon  grab  him  off? 

Didn't  he  know  that  I  had  just  a  little  cash,  and 
didn't  I  think  he  was  out  to  get  it?  and  didn't  he 
know  that  the  Guaranty  Mortgage  Co.  would  make 
us  all  rich?  and  didn't  he  say  folks  were  coming 
in  to  buy  it,  almost  without  solicitation?  that  he 
believed  they  would  run  out  soon,  for  $2,000,000.00 
was  all  the  Capital  Stock  they  wanted  to  have  out- 
standing, and  that  he  and  Nic  were  out  to  sell  the 
second  million  and  that  it  was  pretty  near  all  gone? 
Yes  boys,  he  had  the  line. 

The  balance  of  the  morning  I  looked  here  and 
there,  met  a  good  many  of  the  customers  of  the 
bank,  and  as  I  recall  now,  I  believe  it  was  the  very 
first  noon,  just  as  we  were  preparing  to  go  to  lunch 
that  I  was  introduced  to  Elmer  K.  Hughie,  part- 

64 


owner  of  a  Lumber  Company  in  the  town  known  as 
Horchester  and  Hughie,  by  Mr.  Faring,  who,  with 
his  hand  on  Mr.  Hughie's  shoulder,  after  the  in- 
troduction said  "This  boy  is  good  for  anything 
he'll  sign  his  name  to." 

You  know,  that's  a  pretty  broad  statement  to 
make  about  anyone,  and  I  immediately  assumed  Mr. 
Hughie  to  be  a  power.  Immediately  after  lunch  I 
began  peering  thru  the  Liability  Ledger,  and  why, 
here  was  my  new  friend  E.  K.  Hughie,  owing  us 
$6000.00.  I  thought  of  him  for  the  moment  only, 
glad  to  see  such  a  good  note  in  the  case.  Why,  here 
was  Florence  Hughie  with  a  like  amount.  I  asked 
Mr.  Graaff  who  Mrs.  Florence  Hughie  was,  and  his 
reply  was  that  she  was  the  wife  of  the  man  I  had 
met  just  before  going  to  dinner  (we  call  it  lunch 
now) . 

The  balance  of  the  afternoon  was  spent  much 
the  same  way.  Now  and  then  taking  a  look  at  this 
note  or  that  until  along  about  three  o'clock  I  was 
called  from  the  back  room  to  meet  one  of  Bellevue's 
new  eminent  personages,  a  Mr.  Henry  G.  Johnson. 
After  Mr.  Faring  made  the  formal  introduction 
and  the  usual  handshake,  I  was  informed  that  this 
man  was  a  son-in-law  of  the  owner  of  the  largest 
piano  factory  in  the  world.  That  he  (Henry)  had 
brought  the  production  of  the  factory  up  to  25,000 
pianos  a  year;  that  he  thought  opportunities  were 
better  in  Bellevue  than  even  in  Steger  and  that 
he  thought  Bellevue  would  grow  like  a  house-a-fire. 

65 


Oh !  boy,  optimism  reigned  supreme  that  day.  Every- 
one seemed  to  be  drunk,  not  with  alcoholic  bever- 
ages, but  with  hopes  of  the  future.  Mr.  Johnson  asked 
me  to  be  sure  and  come  up  to  the  plant;  that  he 
wanted  to  show  me  around,  and  that  he  would  be 
glad  to  have  Mr.  Faring  and  Mr.  O'Myra  come  too. 

You  see  we  didn't  call  each  other  by  our  first 
names  yet;  that  remained  for  a  later  date,  when 
I  would  get  personal  and  instead  of  referring  to 
any  of  them  as  Mister,  would  call  them  ???????? 
which  really  is  many  people's  first  name.  After 
the  above  meeting  and  general  exchange  of  courte- 
sies, my  newly  found  friend  O'Myra  commenced 
calling  me  Leo,  got  me  into  the  back  room  in  some 
manner  or  other  and  unloaded  additional  Guaranty 
Mortgage  stock  on  me.  Oh!  you  bet  your  life,  I 
wasn't  going  to  be  let  out  in  the  cold  on  as  good 
a  deal  as  all  that.  I  wanted  to  make  some  money  as 
well  as  anyone  else.  My  investment  in  that  company 
cost  me  $3750.00  plus  some  interest,  together  with 
a  lot  of  grief.  In  addition  to  that  it  cost  me  several 
trips  to  Des  Moines,  regarding  which,  more  will  be 
said  later. 

For  the  first  several  weeks  it  seemed  an  impos- 
sibility to  find  quarters  where  we  might  live.  I 
was  compelled  to  leave  the  family  at  Farley,  with 
the  mother,  and  I  obtained  lodging  with  the  Dunn 
Sisters  for  a  short  time.  Some  weeks  later  I  was 
able  to  obtain  one  room  over  the  Bank  of  Bellevue, 
where  we   set  up  our  housekeeping,   pending  the 

66 


moving  of  Mr.  Faring,  who  did  not  expect  to  leave 
until  January  1st  following,  after  which  his  apart- 
ment was  to  be  occupied  by  myself.  Living  in  the 
above  apartment,  one  room  only,  facing  the  west, 
we  managed  to  exist,  after  which  we  were  able  to 
get  the  balance  of  the  flat  until  such  time  as  Mr. 
Faring  would  vacate  his  apartment.  Living  under 
those  conditions  was  terrible,  but  a  fitting  start  to 
what  was  to  follow. 


0/ 


CHAPTER  IX. 

After  being  with  the  bank  about  two  weeks,  meet- 
ing many  of  Bellevue's  fine  people,  I  began  to  feel 
I  was  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  community,  spending 
my  spare  time  in  getting  acquainted  with  the  folks 
of  the  town,  being  shown  places  of  interest,   etc. 

During  our  banking  hours  I  spent  much  time  on 
the  liability  ledger  and  one  day  asked  Mr.  Kieffer 
who  Theo.  Marten  was  and  was  told  he  was  a 
farmer  west  of  town  in  the  Pure  Bred  Short-Horn 
Cattle  business.  This  information  hadn't  been 
passed  to  me  more  than  20  minutes  when  in  walked 
the  subject  of  our  conversation.  Formal  intro- 
duction was  made  by  Mr.  Kieffer,  after  which  Mr. 
Marten  commenced  telling  me  all  about  his  Bulls; 
about  the  fine  cattle  he  had  on  the  place ;  about  the 
30  head  he  had  sold  the  previous  March  for  $30,000. 
00 ;  about  having  bought  a  place  at  Greenisland,  one 
of  the  finest  stock  farms  in  the  State  of  Iowa ;  how 
he  had  bought  it  for  S60,000.00  but  felt  it  was  worth 
every  cent  of  $80,000.00;  how  he  could  expand 
down  there  and  make  a  fortune.  He  showed  me  a 
large  picture  on  our  bank  wall  and  informed  me 
the  cattle  on  the  picture  were  his;  that  he  had 
been  offered  S5000.00  for  this  one ;  S2500.00  for  that 


one,  and  so  on,  and  that  the  Bull  pictured  among 
others  on  the  wall  was  a  §10,000.00  bull;  that  he 
had  the  bull's  life  insured  for  $3,500.00,  etc.  etc.  etc. 
I  listened  to  the  bull,  or  I  mean  to  say  about  bulls, 
for  about  one  hour ;  told  my  new  friend  I  was  very 
pleased  to  have  met  him,  as  is  usually  the  case 
in  the  meeting  of  two  strangers. 

About  that  time  Elmer  Hughie  whom  I  had  met 
about  two  weeks  previous,  called  and  advised  he 
wished  to  renew  a  note  due  today.  I  looked  up  his 
notes  and  found  neither  of  them  due,  and  so  advised 
him.  He  told  me  the  note  due  today  was  signed  by 
Horchester  and  Hughie,  the  co-partnership.  In 
looking  under  the  proper  alphabet,  I  found  the  note 
for  S4000.00  and  ofcourse,  on  account  of  the 
very  high  recommendation  given  me,  a  renewal  was 
accepted  gladly  for  6  months,  but  asked  Mr.  Hughie 
to  endorse  the  note  on  the  back,  personally,  which 
he  gladly  did,  completing  the  transaction. 

After  his  leaving  the  bank  I  thought  a  little  about 
that  line  and  took  the  matter  up  a  day  or  two  later 
with  Mr.  Faring.  You  see  he  wasn't  at  the  bank 
a  great  deal.  He  and  O'Myra  were  out  selling  stock, 
and  to  listen  to  O'Myra  tell  it  you  would  think 
people  were  tearing  it  away  from  them,  which  in 
some  cases  may  be  true.  I  recall  now  a  very  dear 
friend  of  mine  telling  just  recently  how  he  had 
come  to  buy  his  stock  from  those  two  guys.  They 
called  at  his  place  of  business,  wanted  to  sell  him 
some  stock;  he  felt  he  shouldn't  buy  for  he  still 

69 


had  a  few  debts.  They  wanted  he  should  buy  §3000.- 

00  worth.  No,  he  didn't  believe  he  should  buy  that 
much,  for  he  wanted  to  get  another  little  obligation 
he  had  out,  out  of  the  way  first.  "Well"  said  Mr. 
Faring,  "Why  don't  you  buy  $1500.00  then?"  "No 
sir"  said  Paul,  "I'm  going  to  take  $3000.00  worth. 

1  want  to  get  in  on  a  good  thing  too". 

You  see  the  foxy,  cocky  boy  had  again  painted 
his  beautiful  mental  picture,  and  of  course  the 
prospect  fell  for  it,  with  the  result  that  again  two 
notes  were  executed,  signed  and  delivered.  You 
know  how  that  works.  The  Supervisor  of  our  bank 
was  pretty  busy  on  the  outside,  a  title  unheard  of 
by  myself  up  to  that  time.  Yet  I  couldn't  look  for 
anything  else,  for  hadn't  Iowa  stepped  out  and  as- 
sumed a  lot  of  things  much  farther  fetched  than 
that? 

At  the  time  of  taking  up  this  Hughie  business 
with  Mr.  Faring,  I  was  again  told  his  signature*  on 
those  notes  makes  them  as  good  as  a  Government 
Bond.  You  know,  I  thought  quite  a  lot  of  Govern- 
ment Bonds,  having  studied  them  in  making  sales 
and  being  a  Four  Minute  Man  during  the  war, 
and  it  was  hard  for  me  to  compare  anyone's  signa- 
ture with  a  Government  Bond.  At  any  rate,  I  began 
to  investigate  the  line  more  and  more.  While  a 
financial  statement,  one  of  the  very  few  we  had, 
showed  him  enjoying  an  excellent  net  worth,  yet 
many  of  these  assets  looked  dubious,  and  I  could 
not  quite  satisfy  myself. 

70 


The  Piano  Company  seemed  adding  to  their 
buildings,  and  general  improvement  was  being 
shown  around  the  premises.  You  see  Mr.  Johnson 
hadn't  arrived  at  Bellevue,  until  Sept.  1st  1919, 
and  of  course,  it  took  some  time  to  get  the  plant  in 
shape ;  getting  new  machinery ;  new  stock  for  manu- 
facturing, and  it  was  about  January  1st  before 
much  real  activity  was  displayed  around  the  plant. 

January  1st  I  was  elected  Secretary  of  the  Com- 
mercial Club,  a  real  live  organization  of  the  town, 
with  Dr.  Dennison  as  its  President. 

Doc  and  I  worked  along  very  nicely.    Both  of  us 
minded  our  own  business  and  the  Commercial  Club 
got  along  very  nicely.    It  was  on  that  date  the  Su- 
pervisor left,  and  charge  of  the  bank  was  placed  in 
my  hands. 

Business  that  winter  was  flourishing  and  we  ad- 
vertised : 

MAKE    THIS   BANK   YOUR    BANK 


MAKE    OUR    BANK     YOUR      BANK 


BANK  WITH  US  WE  BANK  ON  YOU 


CHOOSE  YOUR  BANK  BY  ITS  PERFORMANCE 
(Note  our  growth) 


OUR    DESIRE    IS    TO    SERVE    BEST 


HE    SUCCEEDS    BEST    WHO    SERVES    MOST 


A  COMMUNITY    ASSET 

71 


Bellevue  is  blessed,  if  you  want  to  call  it  that, 
with  two  newspapers,  and  the  ads  were  run  in 
both  of  them.  In  connection  with  this  matter,  tell 
me  what  earthly  use  a  town  of  1900  could  have  for 
two  newspapers. 

Our  deposits  grew  to  almost  a  Million  Dollars, 
until  one  day  one  of  our  enterprising  doctors  ad- 
vertised Bellevue's  Million  Dollar  Baby. 

March  1st  1920,  that  day,  that  no  one,  in  June 
of  1919,  ever  dreamed  would  come,  arrived,  and 
with  it  more  work  than  I  have  ever  seen  around  a 
country  banking  institution.  It  was  a  case  of  draw 
a  Deed  here,  draw  a  Mortgage  for  this  fellow ;  make 
a  note  for  this  man  or  that;  make  a  few  loans 
yourself;  take  deposits  and  pay  checks,  until  the 
maelstrom  of  business  became  so  propitious,  that 
the  force  consisting  of  the  two  Graaff  boys,  Kieffer 
and  myself  could  hardly  handle  all  of  it. 

On  that  day  that  wonderful  farm  at  Green  Island 
had  to  be  settled  for;  that  farm  that  suddenly  ap- 
preciated in  value  by  $20,000.00.  The  men  in- 
terested in  making  the  deal  came  to  the  bank  of 
course,  for  wasn't  a  bank  there  to  do  most  every- 
thing. Yes,  I  prepared  to  draw  the  papers,  and 
did.  The  purchaser  seemed  to  be  short  in  making 
the  settlement,  and  would  we  advance  $10,000.00 
to  help  close  the  deal?  Anyway,  the  deal  was  closed 
One  of  the  interested  parties  acted  as  the  good 
Samaritan,  allowed  his  profit  to  remain  in  the  deal 
and  today  still  has  it  coming.   Many  a  time  have  I 

72 


heard  him  bellyache  about  it.  He's  still  holding  the 
sack.  The  other  party,  interested  with  him,  Charlie 
Shafer,  took  his  profit,  for  didn't  he  need  it  bad 
enough?  Wasn't  he  owing  a  good  deal  of  money? 
And  didn't  he  have  other  deals  to  close  that  same 
day,  requiring  money,  and  lots  of  it? 

This  latter  lad  was  a  director  of  our  bank;  the 
type  that  likes  to  take  the  lead  in  business  matters ; 
and  the  type  I  made  up  my  mind  needed  watching 
and  a  lot  of  it,  about  which  more  will  be  said  later. 

That  one  deal  was  one  of  possibly  30  deals  closed 
that  day.  That  day  of  reckoning  DID  Come  and 
many  of  the  boys  were  crawling  under  cover.  Of- 
course,  the  settlements  had  to  be  made  and  were. 
Many  a  mortgage  was  executed  on  that  date  through- 
out the  entire  State;  mortgages  which  later  on 
brought  grief  to  the  mortgagees.  You  know  that. 

After  assisting  in  the  closing  of  all  those  deals, 
drawing  the  papers,  etc.  I  was  mighty  tired,  and 
you  believe  me  that  night,  I  was  almost  ready  to 
check  out.  We  worked  until  11 :30  that  night 
(bankers  hours,  you  know) .  The  hours  were  getting 
longer  and  the  grief  was  commencing  to  forecast 
itself.  The  following  morning  a  brief  inspection 
of  our  Tellers  Blotter  revealed  the  fact  that  we 
had  handled  a  tremendous  amount  of  business.  Our 
turnover  for  the  day  totaled  close  to  one  Million 
Dollars.  Zowie,  what  do  you  think  of  that  for  a 
country  bank,  in  a  small  town.  It  took  us  about 
six  days  to  readjust  ourselves  and  carry  on  business, 

73 


as  usual.  Things  went  along  placidly  from  then 
until  July,  at  which  time  many  of  our  notes  were 
maturing,  but  for  some  reason  they  were  not  being 
paid  as  promptly  as  folks  used  to  pay  them  in  the 
past.  This  fellow  or  that  would  write  me  from 
Dubuque,  from  Dyersville,  from  this  point  or  that 
and  say  they  could  not  pay  their  note  at  this  time, 
and  some  even  advised  they  could  not  pay  the  in- 
terest, some  of  the  makers  advising  that  Mr.  Faring 
or  Mr.  O'Myra  had  told  them  at  the  time  they 
purchased  their  stock,  that  they  would  never  hear 
from  the  note  again;  that  the  dividends  would  do 
so  and  so,  and  that  they  were  very  much  surprised 
to  get  my  letter  asking  them  to  pay  the  note.  In 
many  instances  the  maker  would  actually  get  mad 
telling  me  I  had  insulted  him  when  I  asked  to  have 
the  note  paid.  About  that  time  I  began  coming  to 
myself,  and  wrote  many  of  the  makers  about  the 
nature  of  the  note,  and  many  replied  they  had 
given  it  for  Stock  in  this  Guaranty  Mortgage ;  some 
wrote  they  had  bought  something  in  the  Corn  Belt 
in  Dubuque;  others  wrote  their  note  was  for  stock 
in  the  Bast-Fogarty  Mill  at  Des  Moines ;  still  others 
advised  their  note  as  being  given  for  the  Hawkeye 
Securities  Insurance  Co.,  while  some  were  given 
for  the  Insurance  Corporation  stock;  yet  others 
said  they  bought  Mason  City  Insurance,  and  some 
others  had  their  alloted  share.  {There  you  are 
again,  allotment,  see?)  Oh!  Boy,  she  was  plenty 
hot  those  days.  It  was  a  normal  hot  summer,  tempe- 

74 


raturely  speaking,  but  hot  as  the  devil  in  the  note 
business. 

You  see  these  notes  were  given  the  summer 
previous,  and  had  almost  twelve  months  to  heat  up, 
and  you  believe  me  many  of  them  were  hot,  yes, 
almost  smoking.  Remember  the  story?  Some  of 
the  makers  defied  me  to  collect  them,  stating  they 
had  taken  the  matter  up  with  their  attorney  and 
were  advised  I  could  not  get  Judgment  against 
them,  since  the  Supervisor  was  the  boy  who  sold 
them  the  stock.  Right  now  I  recall  the  story  about 
Willie's  teacher.  She  was  stylishly  stout.  When  he 
reached  home  from  his  first  day  of  school,  his  papa 
asked  what  teacher's  name  was,  to  which  Willie 
replied  "No".  "Can't  you  describe  her"  said  the 
father?  "Oh  yes,  said  Willie  "Her  lungs  stick  out 
in  front". 

My  chest  stuck  out  in  front,  and  I  decided  to  go 
and  lick  them  if  I  could,  collect  every  promotion 
note  possible.  I  had  reasonably  good  luck,  for  after 
all,  all  of  us  possess  a  certain  amount  of  moral  re- 
sponsibility, altho  you  fellows  know  that  the  moral 
responsibility  don't  mean  much  now;  its  got  to 
be  good,  black  on  white  and  nothing  else.  Now  they 
renew,  and  say  thank  God  that's  paid,  hating  like 
heck  to  pay  even  the  interest,  Many  a  hard  battle 
I  had. 

It  was  during  that  summer  that  another  cocky 
bird  drifted  in,  advising  me  that  Mr.  Parot  of  Des 
Moines  had   sent  him  out  to   interview  me,   with 

75 


reference  to  assisting  him  in  the  sale  of  stock  locally 
in  the  Herminal  Elevator  Co.,  which  was  then  in 
process  of  organization.  I  visited  with  him  quite 
sometime,  advising  that  I  had  never  helped  sell  a 
share  of  stock ;  that  I  was  not  a  bird-dog ;  and  that 
I  didn't  propose  to  start  now;  that  people  would 
think  much  more  of  me  for  not  assisting  him.  That 
Mr.  Faring  would  be  thought  more  of  locally  if  he 
hadn't  placed  the  stock  as  he  did.  The  upshot  of 
that  conversation  was  that  I  threw  him  out  of  the 
bank,  altho  I  do  not  wish  to  quote  myself  as  to 
what  all  I  told  him.  I  swore  plenty.  He  skipped 
right  down  to  Des  Moines,  apparently  told  his 
troubles,  for  in  a  few  days  I  got  a  letter  from  my 
old  Friend  Faring,  that  was  plenty  hot.  Letters 
were  exchanged  between  us,  one  hotter  than  the 
other.  One  night  in  taking  a  reply  of  mine  to  the 
post-office,  I  decided  I'd  better  take  it  back  to  the 
bank,  or  it  might  burn  up  in  the  mails,  it  was  so 
hot.  I  wrote  another,  and  verily  believe  it  was 
hotter  than  the  one  that  found  its  way  into  the 
waste-basket.  More  were  exchanged,  until  I  re- 
ceived as  fine  a  letter  of  apology  as  I  ever  read. 
Copies  of  my  letters  as  well  as  the  ones  I  received 
are  now  in  my  possession.  At  any  rate,  no  Herminal 
Elevator  Company  stock  was  sold  around  this  place. 
Some  weeks  later,  another  slicker  called  repre- 
senting himself  to  be  with  some  Muscatine  Packing 
Co.  which  was  in  the  process  of  ORGANIZATION. 
Here    was    1920    and  they    were    still    organizing. 

76 


ORGANIZING  seemed  to  be  the  popular  sport.  He 
propositioned  me,  without  any  success.  Very  nice 
about  it.  Asked  whether  I  wouldn't  cash  a  check  of 
$65.00  for  him?  He  looked  alright,  so  I  gave  him 
the  cash.  Some  days  later  it  was  returned  N.  G. 
I  turned  his  description  over  to  the  Burns  Detective 
Agency,  who  located  him  somewhere  in  Indiana  and 
promptly  had  him  lodged  in  jail.  A  wire  was  sent 
me  by  his  wife.  I  didn't  even  know  him,  much  less 
his  wife,  and  took  the  telegram  with  a  grain  of  salt, 
sitting  tight,  and  letting  him  suffer  in  the  heat 
of  the  Jail.  Another  wire  came.  I  wouldn't  reply, 
The  next  evening  a  Special  Delivery  came  from  her, 
one  of  the  most  sympathetic  letters  I  have  ever 
read.  In  the  same  mail  came  another  letter  from 
an  officer  of  the  town  in  which  she  lived,  verifying 
her  statements.  She  sent  a  draft  to  cover  the  $65.00 
and  some  $30.00  expense  that  had  been  incurred, 
whereupon  I  ordered  him  turned  loose.  You  know 
if  all  those  birds  could  have  been  jailed,  or  drowned 
or  some  little  thing  like  that  in  1918,  the  Iowa 
Promotion  game  might  never  have  been  invented. 
I've  often  wondered  who  did  invent  it?  You've  got 
to  hand  it  to  him,  he  was  a  smart  guy. 

This  same  summer  I  found  other  Hughie  paper, 
and  lots  of  it,  and  upon  ascertaining  the  sum  total 
of  the  various  lines,  I  proceeded  to  liquidate  some 
of  them,  creating  just  a  little  hard  feelings  on 
account  of  the  position  I  was  taking,  but  then  you 
don't  mind  a  little  thing  like  hard  feelings,  provid- 

77 


ing  you're  getting  your  Cash  back,  and  you  believe 
me,  I  was  trying  to  get  it  back  as  quickly  as  possible. 

At  this  particular  time  of  that  year  we  were  bor- 
rowing from  the  Fed  quite  heavily,  having  placed 
our  U.  S.  Government  Bonds  up  as  collateral. 
Rather  than  continue  that  kind  of  business,  I  felt  it 
much  better  business  on  our  part,  to  cash  in  on  some 
of  our  lines,  but  the  cashing  in  process  wasn't  as  easy 
as  all  of  that.  Many  and  many  a  night  I  spent  in 
some  of  our  neighboring  towns,  and  many  times 
had  friend  wife  accompany  me  so  the  locals  wouldn't 
think  I  was  out  cattin'  around.  I  was  out  many  a 
night  making  a  real  honest  to  goodness  effort  to 
collect.  A  fellow  attempted  to  throw  me  out  of 
his  home  one  night,  and  being  a  little  larger  physi- 
cally dared  him  to  try  it,  and  do  you  know,  the 
son-of-a-gun  was  actually  going  to  try,  until  when 
coming  at  me,  I  caught  him  on  the  jaw,  landing 
him  in  the  corner,  after  which  I  kicked  him  good 
and  plenty,  having  lost  every  sense  of  decency,  with 
the  result  that  two  coppers  called,  being  called  by 
his  wife.  I  did  a  lot  of  explaining  to  them ;  couldn't 
put  up  a  bond;  it  was  11  ;30  at  night,  and  I  had  less 
than  two  bucks  in  my  pocket.  The  fellow's  wife 
was  on  the  scene  at  the  station,  and  ofcourse  had 
to  verify  what  I  told  the  coppers,  after  which  the 
two  coppers  smiled  and  allowed  me  to  proceed  home. 

Believe  me,  I  was  glad  to  get  out  of  that  scrap. 
But  it's  only  one  of  the  many  I  had.   The  note  isn't 

78 


paid  yet.   He  hasn't  got  a  dime  and  if  he  did  have, 
he'd  look  for  a  drink  first. 

I  recall  that  same  summer  being  squatted  on  the 
front  door  step  of  a  retired  farmers  place  in  Alla- 
makee County,  waiting  for  him  to  arise,  having  a 
note  of  $6000.00  signed  by  him.  I  stuck  with  him 
until  his  bank  opened  for  business  about  8  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  induced  him  to  try  and  negoti- 
ate a  loan  at  the  bank,  placing  the  Corn  Belt  Bonds 
we  had  as  collateral  with  them.  I  wouldn't  give  him 
the  collateral  tho'  until  he  brought  me  the  draft. 
Apparently  his  banker  didn't  know  much  about  the 
Corn  Belt  and  came  out  into  the  street  and  asked 
me  about  them.  "You  live  down  near  Dubuque, 
don't  you?"  I  told  him  I  did,  and  he  felt  I  should 
know  something  about  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
I  did,  but  certainly  wouldn't  tell  him  what  I  knew 
about  them  or  he  surely  wouldn't  make  the  proposed 
loan.  I  told  him  they  had  a  nice  building,  nice  yards 
and  a  few  minor  other  things,  whereupon  he  wanted 
to  see  the  bonds.  I  showed  them  and  he  wanted  to 
know  whether  he  could  take  them  into  the  bank  and 
asked  me  to  accompany  him.  I  did.  The  loan  was 
made.  I  walked  out  to  the  car,  started  my  motor, 
ready  to  get  out  quickly,  but  awaited  my  man  bring- 
ing out  the  draft.  He  did.  Threw  it  at  me  with 
these  words  "There's  your  dam  money"  and  walked 
back  into  the  bank.  That  was  alright  with  me, 
whether  it  was  dam  money  or  some  other  kind.  I 
was  glad  to  get  it,  for  I  felt  the  note  was  no  good 

79 


and  neither  the  collateral.  The  fellow  since,  I  have 
heard,  went  broke,  and  I  don't  think  there  is  any 
more  question  about  the  value  of  the  collateral.  I 
believe  somebody  else  is  paying  taxes. 

You  bet,  those  days  were  the  HECTIC  days  and 
to  you,  young  banker,  who  have  never  gone  thru 
it:   DON'T  EVER  BUY  A  PROMOTION   NOTE. 

The  promotor  gets  the  commission,  somebody 
else  gets  the  balance  and  you  get  what's  left.  Grief. 
If  you  get  the  money,  you're  lucky.  And  again, 
DON'T  BUY  A  PROMOTION  NOTE,  even  at  ten 
cents  on  the  dollar  for  the  odds  are  against  you  to 
get  the  dime. 

That  same  summer,  another  Checker,  called; 
made  his  examination,  so  called,  patted  me  on  the 
shoulder  with  the  words  "Boy,  you're  coming  fine". 
Dam  little  he  knew  about  banking  or  promotion 
notes.  I  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  this  pro- 
motion paper  and  he  replied  "Oh,  some  of  them 
will  pay".  He  didn't  know  at  the  time  how  close  he 
was  guessing  it,  for  it  developed  later  than  SOME  of 
them  did  pay,  without  any  trouble.    Some  also  paid 

with  trouble,   and   some  my  thoughts   aren't 

fit  to  run  thru  this  Underwood,  so  I'll  say  no  more 
about  it. 

We  commenced  using  our  Undivided  Profit  Ac- 
count to  charge  off  this  or  that  one,  and  I  learned 
considerable  about  charging  off  notes.  One  purpose 
that  serves  is  for  Income  Tax  purposes,  altho  a 
fellow  hates  to  use  all  his  profits  for  that  purpose; 
a  dividend  to  the  stockholder  is  far  more  profitable. 

80 


CHAPTER   X. 

"Hello,  is  did  you  Abie?" 

"Sure,  it's  me" 

"This  is  Abie  Potash,  I'm  talking  too?" 

"Yes,  yes,  vat  do  you  vant?" 

"Vell,Abie,  I  vant  to  borrow  $50.00  for 

"All  rite,  I  tell  him  as  soon  as  he  comes  in" 

The  boys  were  falling  back  on  me  and  would 
tell  the  customer  they  would  tell  me  as  soon  as  I 
would  come  in;  that  a  renewal  was  wished  by  the 
maker;  that  if  a  renewal  was  accepted  he  could 
pay  the  interest,  and  I  would  wonder  if  we  didn't 
accept  a  renewal,  what  would  he  do  about  the  in- 
terest? You  see,  he'd  qualified  his  request.  You 
tell  'em,  they  were  all  qualifying,  many  of  them 
were  doing  everything  else  but  paying.  Then, 
naturally  I  would  have  to  discount  some  more.  Sure, 
we  belonged  to  the  Fed,  that's  what  we  joined  for. 
What  other  good  purpose  could  they  serve,  tell  me? 

It  was  during  that  summer  also  that  the  Bull 
man  needed  additional  financing  for  a  considerable 
amount,  which  was  granted  after  serious  conside- 
ration on  the  part  of  the  Board,  altho  they  felt  the 
line  was  getting  a  little  too  large.  It  was  to  be  one 

81 


of  those  temporary  loans,   so  they  guessed  they'd 
better  make  it  and  help  him  out. 

Very  shortly  after  that  I  got  a  few  letters  from 
3  points  thruout  the  State,  advising  that  a  certain 
note  of  So-much  signed  by  the  same  party  would 
mature  a  certain  date.  Apparently  our  endorsement 
was  on  the  back  of  the  paper.  I  don't  want  to  say 
any  more  about  it.  I  took  a  second  mortgage,  secur- 
ing our  entire  line. 

The  next  spring  interest  on  the  first  wasn't  paid. 
We  advanced  it.  The  following  spring  a  like  occur- 
ence. Today  we  own  the  farm  as  Other  Real  Estate. 
Sometime  you  make  loan,  when  as  a  matter  of 
fact  you're  buying  land  but  you  don't  it.  You  see, 
during  all  these  years,  bulls  weren't  paying.  There'll 
be  more  about  those  bulls  later. 

Promotion  notes  were  getting  so  tough  that  even 
the  note  was  beginning  to  get  tougher,  so  tough 
you  could  hardly  tear  them.  Some  of  them  I  carried 
continually  in  my  pocket  in  the  hopes  I  could  run 
across  the  maker,  sneak  up  on  him  and  probably  get 
a  few  dollars  out  of  him. That  was  hard  to  do. He  wass 
kind  of  watching  me  all  the  time,  and  I  couldn't 
sneak  up  on  him.  They  felt,  and  justifiedly  so,  that 
their  stock  wasn't  worth  much  and  countered  with 
the  statement  "  How  much  on  the  dollar  will  you 
settle  for?"  Sure,  there  went  more  of  the  profits. 
At  that  time  I  discovered  also  what  the  Flandreau 
River  Lumber  Co.  was,  and  who  they  were;  that 

82 


my  friend  Hughie  was  It.  No  he  didn't  have  IT,  he 
just  was  It. 

Late  that  summer  another  fine  looking  individual 
from  Chicago  appeared  on  the  scene  and  offered  to 
sell  a  few  time  certificates  of  deposit  issued  by  an 
Iowa  bank.  I  proceeded  to  look  up  the  standing  of 
the  banks  thru  the  Blue  Book,  a  Bankers  Directory, 
and  from  their  statement  they  appeared  in  pretty 
good  shape. 

He  offered  to  discount  them  to  net  us  7  per  cent, 
which  seemed  like  a  nice  rate  for  that  kind  of  in- 
vestment, and  after  taking  the  matter  up  with  the 
Finance  Committee  we  decided  to  buy  $5000.000 
worth  of  them.  A  short  time  later  the  same  party 
called  with  several  notes,  signed  by  various  makers, 
offering  to  sell  them  on  the  same  basis,  accepting 
our  time  certificates  of  deposit  in  payment  for  them. 
Let  me  add  here;  That's  a  terrible  practice,  my 
first  of  its  kind,  and  let  me  advise  you,  if  I  may, 
don't  ever  issue  your  good  time  certificate  of  de- 
posit for  any  note. 

The  notes  referred  to  were  signed  by  a  retired 
farmer  and  two  bankers,  who  operated  a  private 
bank  in  Central  Illinois.  I  telephoned  to  that  point 
and  was  advised  that  the  notes  were  alright  and 
would  be  paid  at  maturity.  After  getting  the  above 
information  I  reviewed  the  financial  statements  of 
the  three  makers,  submitted  with  the  notes  and 
felt  satisfied  that  the  notes  were  good.  The  Com- 
mittee and  I  decided  to  take  the  notes.   These  notes 


gave  me  an  endless  amount  of  GRIEF,  considerable 
litigation  with  the  result  that  finally  the  one  note 
was  paid,  in  the  case  of  the  other  we  obtained  a 
Sheriff's  Certificate  on  land  in  Rock  County,  Min- 
nesota (which  the  Judge  there  saw  fit,  for  no  reason 
whatsoever  to  set  aside)  ordering  payment  of  the 
note  to  us,  which  was  done. 

Since  the  redemption  period  had  expired,  to  this 
date,  I  cannot  understand  why  it  was  set  aside.  In 
the  case  of  the  third  note.  The  maker  was  a  wealthy 
retired  farmer,  a  director  of  the  bank.  He  had 
made  the  personal  acquaintanceship  of  a  slicker  Oil 
man,  who  bled  the  poor  devil  almost  dry,  selling 
him  a  terrific,  amount  of  stock  at  various  times, 
accepting  his  notes  in  denominations  of  $2500.00 
and  $5000.00,  negotiating  them  all  over  the  country. 
The  bank  of  which  this  man  was  a  director  took  note 
of  what  was  going  on;  called  in  Mr.  Oil  buyer  and 
had  him  secure  the  line  they  held  against  him, 
and  co-operated  with  other  banks  in  the  same  town 
in  assisting  them  to  secure  their  line.  He  had  en- 
joyed an  enviable  amount  of  credit  at  the  local 
banks  prior  to  that  time.  Later  on  when  some  of 
the  notes  given  for  this  stock  matured,  the  local 
banks  there  could  be  of  no  assistance  to  him,  with 
the  result  that  the  other  creditors  of  which  there 
was  a  total  of  more  than  $100,000.00  represented, 
were  left  holding  the  sack;  the  maker  of  the  notes 
becoming  a  virtual  pauper.  His  financial  statement 
at  the  time  of  signing  the  notes  showed  net  worth 

84 


of  about    $150,000.00    represented    by  much   real 
estate,  clear. 

A  few  years  later  he  was  a  poor  devil,  without  a 
dollar  in  the  world.  All  brought  about  by  listening 
to  the  words  of  a  high  pressure  promotor  and 
placing  his  utmost  confidence  in  him.  It  is  a  fact 
that  at  the  inception  of  those  notes,  the  maker 
was  recommended  very  highly  by  all  the  banks  in 
the  territory;  said  he  was  considered  A  number  1 
and  would  pay  anything  he  would  sign  his  name  to. 

Little  did  they  surmise  what  the  man,  in  whom 
they  had  placed  so  much  confidence,  was  doing.  The 
two  other  makers  of  the  notes  were  compelled  to 
close  their  bank;  making  an  assignment  for  the 
benefit  of  their  creditors,  and  still  later  being 
thrown  into  bankruptcy.  However,  our  judgment 
had  been  a  matter  of  record  for  over  four  months 
prior  to  the  bankruptcy  proceedings,  and  I  was  able 
to  collect  from  them  in  full,  not  however,  without  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  and  expense,  and  trouble  that 
weighed  more  heavily  on  my  mind  than  the  princi- 
pal amount  of  the  notes,  for  hadn't  I  had  so  much 
GRIEF,  the  notes  would  probably  have  been  charged 
off,  in  the  hopes  that  later  we  would  get  something 
out  of  it. 

Prior  to  bringing  the  above  to  a  close  however, 
I  foolishly  purchased  other  paper  from  this  same 
Chicago  man,  with  the  net  result  than  we  were  in 
for  half  the  amount  of  our  Capital  Stock,  an  amount 
I  have  been  to  this  date  trying  to  collect. 

85 


Boys,  don't  ever  monkey  with  that  kind  of  paper. 
I  was  taught  a  very  expensive  lesson,  a  lesson  that 
to  my  dying  day  I  shall  never  forget.  Each  and 
every  note  this  man  offered  was  accompanied  with 
a  financial  statement  that  appeared  good;  none  of 
us  scrutinized  statements  as  closely  as  we  do  today. 
A  financial  statement  at  that  time  was  just  so  many 
figures  and  didn't  mean  much.  One  of  the  names 
of  the  above  block  was  collateralized  by  a  large 
block  of  stock  of  the  Porter  Tractor  Co.  of  which 
many  a  banker  knows  a  great  deal;  now  defunct. 

I'm  taking  the  blame  boys,  for  having  been  a 
first  class  damfool,  and  I'm  trying  to  word  it  plainly 
in  the  hopes  that  no  banker  will  do  the  same  thing. 
While  it  is  a  fact  that  very  little  of  that  kind  of 
business  is  being  done  today,  yet  another  day  may 
come,  and  if  it  does,  LAY  OFF. 

While  all  of  the  above  was  transpiring  many 
meetings  of  the  Board  were  being  held  to  work  out 
ways  and  means  to  combat  it.  One  director  seemed 
particularly  interested  to  the  extent  of  offering 
considerable  criticism  for  my  having  purchased  the 
paper;  to  which  I  replied  that  unless  we  were  very 
careful  we  wight  meet  up  with  the  same  result  with 
his  personal  line.  He  became  very  much  incensed  at 
my  statement  and  said  "This  bank  will  never  lose 
a  dollar  on  Charlie  Shafer".  "I  did  not  reply,  but 
felt  it  would  be  the  advisable  thing  to  do  to  check 
up  on  his  line,  which  I  proceeded  to  do  for  weeks 
and  months  to  follow.    During  a  period  of  three 

86 


months  I  took  three  different  financial  statements 
from  him.  Each  one  different.  He  couldn't  quite 
remember  what  he  had  told  me  when  giving  the 
previous  statement.  My  suspicions  were  immedi- 
ately aroused,  and  I  felt  that  watching  the  line 
very  closely  would  be  profitable  to  the  institution. 
The  line  was  large,  too  large,  altho  his  statement 
too,  showed  him  worth  considerable.  This  statement 
was  inspected  many  a  time.  It  showed  him  to  owe 
most  every  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry  as  well  as  a  good 
many  banks.  We  allowed  the  line  to  continue  for  a 
year,  in  deference  to  his  being  a  director  of  our 
institution,  altho  I  was  advised  to  watch  the  line 
a  little  closer. 

That  coming  winter,  the  winter  of  1920-21  I 
listened  to  Pure  Bred  Bull  conversations  mostly 
every  week.  For  wasn't  there  going  to  be  a  big 
bull  sale  that  coming  March?  They  were  being  fed 
well,  with  our  money,  groomed,  curry-combed  and 
brought  into  excellent  condition  to  sell.  Still  having 
in  mind  that  30  head  sold  for  §30,000.00  I  felt  there 
would  be  enough  damfools  who  would  pay  that 
kind  of  prices  for  them,  and  hoped  and  prayed 
that  the  coming  sale  would  be  a  success.  It  was 
during  that  winter  we  enjoyed  the  good-will  of  the 
community;  our  deposits  mounting  continually  to 
huge  proportions,  large  for  a  town  of  1900  people 
along  the  Mississippi  River,  with  but  half  a  terri- 
tory to  draw  from,  and  at  this  date  I  can  say  that 

87 


had  this  CONFIDENCE  continued  our  bank  would 
be  in  operation  as  a  good  going  institution. 

Early  that  winter  a  certain  note  of  $6000.00 
signed  by  a  farmer  west  of  town,  secured  by  his 
mother's  signature  matured.  Upon  its  maturity  I 
was  advised  that  the  mother  owned  the  farm  of 
about  200  acres;  that  she  was  perfectly  good,  etc. 
Prior  to  renewing  the  note,  however,  I  drove  to 
the  County  seat  and  discovered  that  the  mother  had 
but  a  life  interest  in  the  farm ;  that  upon  her  death 
the  farm  was  to  be  divided  between  7  children  share 
and  share  alike.  What  was  the  security  on  the  note 
worth?  Nothing,  was  it?  What  was  to  be  done  in 
that  case?  Nothing  but  get  under  cover  with  a 
Chattel  mortgage  on  the  young  man's  farm  personal 
property,  which  was  promptly  done.  In  addition  to 
that  I  obtained  an  assignment  of  his  interest  in  his 
mother's  estate  as  well  as  an  assignment  of  his 
wife's  interest  in  her  father's  estate.  Up  to  the 
time  of  writing  this  we  cashed  in  something  in  ex- 
cess of  $2000.00  on  the  wife's  interest  in  her  father's 
estate;  are  selling  the  young  farmer  out  tomorrow 
(Februay  28,  1928)  in  the  hopes  that  we  can  get 
about  $2000.  out  of  the  sale  and  still  hold  the  assign- 
ment of  his  interest  in  his  mother's  estate  for  pay- 
ment of  the  balance.  There's  going  to  be  a  loss 
there,  but  better  take  it  now  than  later.  And  so  she 
went. 

An  identical  case  covering  a  note  of  $6500.00  oc- 
cured,  where  I  was  fortunate  to  get  the  signature, 

88 


to  half  the  note,  of  the  brother  of  the  borrower, 
and  the  borrower'  father-in-law  signing  up  for  the 
other  half.  That  was  a  case  where  the  in-laws  came 
in  handy  I  was  lucky  to  get  that  line  cleaned  up  in 
full. 

March  1st  1921  came  and  again  business  was  tre- 
menduous;  our  force  was  rushed  until  late  into  the 
night  (bankers  hours  still  prevailed) .  While  we  did 
not  do  the  large  business  we  did  the  year  previous, 
there  being  but  few  land  settlements,  yet  our  every 
assistance  was  offered  to  these  corb-stone  bankers 
you  know  the  kind  I  mean;  the  boys  who  got  out 
on  the  street  and  solicited  business ;  try  and  make 
loans  at  a  better  rate  of  interest  than  the  bank  is 
paying;  assisted  by  some  bird  who  owes  the  bank 
himself  and  is  unable  to  pay  his  note ;  making  all  ar- 
rangements for  the  loan,than  walking  into  the  bank 
and  asking  you  to  draw  up  a  note  for  them.  You  of- 
course,  do  that  little  thing,  very  willingly.  Then  the 
payee  would  flash  a  time  certificate  of  deposit  at 
you  with  the  words  "I  am  loaning  this  fellow  this 
money".  Oh !  yes,  you  were  the  good  fellow  all 
around,  glad  to  help  all  of  them. 

The  coming  Bull  sale  was  up  for  March  of  that 
year,  at  Green  Island,  and  would  I  grace  the  sale  with 
my  presence?  Sure  I  would  be  glad  to  go;  clerk  the 
sale;  drag  home  all  the  money  and  credit  the  pro- 
ceeds on  a  note  that  was  already  past  due.  But  do 
you  know  for   some  reason  or  ether,  the  buyer's 

89 


didn't  think  bulls  were  worth  as  much  as  in  the  past, 
and  instead  of  selling  for  a  thousand  dollars  average, 
they  sold  for  about  a  hundred.  Naturally,  upon  that 
basis  ,  the  cattle  listed  on  the  financial  statement, 
previously  given,  weren't  worth  anywhere  near  what 
the  statement  shewed. 

Some  days  after  the  sale  the  seller  called  at  the 
bank  and  ways  and  means  were  discussed  to  hold 
the  herd  of  bulls  and  the  other  cattle  together.  I 
was  beginning  to  think  and  talk  Ways  and  Means. 
From  that  date  to  this  I  listened  to  bull,  bull,  bull 
and  more  bulls  until  I  almost  got  bully  myself  and 
could  not  decide  whether  I  would  eat  any  more  bull 
or  not,  until  one  day  at  the  Birkill  butcher  shop  I 
was  offered  some  nice  fresh  sausage,  but  I  told  Fred 
I  had  all  the  bull  I  could  handle,  that  I  would  take 
a  nice  half  dozen  pork  chops.  (I  wasn't  Jewish).  I 
should  have  started  eating  bull  meat  at  that  time 
tho',  for  with  my  appetite  I'd  made  bull  history ;  my 
temperature  was  rising  to  fever  heat. 

That  summer  our  local  City  Council  passed  a 
"Resolution  of  Necessity"  and  ordered  the  instal- 
lation of  a  Sanitary  Sewer  in  our  peaceful  little 
village. 

A  lot  of  kicking  was  heard,  mostly  by  the  retired 
farmers  of  the  town.  Didn't  the  boys  on  the  Council 
feel  that  the  addition  of  the  new  Sewer  would  be 
the  means  of  eliminating  everything  that  boded  for 
contamination?   That  the  town  should  be  made  100 

90 


per  cent  modern;  that  folks  would  appreciate  their 
efforts,  for  didn't  they  spent  many  an  anxious  hour 
in  figuring  with  this  contractor  or  that?  Didn't 
they  spend  their  time  in  behalf  of  our  little  Village 
for  the  benefit  of  the  residents,  at  practically  no 
remuneration  to  themselves? 

The  retired  farmer  couldn't  see  that  though  and 
promptly  proceeded  to  get  out  his  hatchet,  I  believe, 
some  of  them  carried  sledge  hammers.  Weren't 
they  willing  to  put  up  with  the  conveniences  that 
were  in  existence  50  years  ago?  Sure  they  were. 
They  could  get  along.  What's  the  use  of  progress 
anyway?  He  had  plenty  of  dough  and  didn't  care 
whether  the  town  ever  amounted  to  anything  or  not. 
The  farmer  has  my  good  will  and  sympathy  as  well, 
but  the  retired . 

The  sewer  was  installed.  At  the  next  town  el- 
lection  the  entire  Council  was  defeated  for  re- 
election. That's  what  they  got  for  being  progressive. 

The  summer  of  that  year  passed;  the  local  base- 
ball team  made  a  very  good  record,  under  the 
management  of  Pard  Budde.  Many  a  fine  game  I 
enjoyed. 

Business  was  good;  the  men  had  work  helping 
install  the  new  sewer ;  business  at  the  Piano  factory 
looked  prosperous.  The  general  atmosphere  around 
the  town  was  good. 

At  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
I  placed  the  matter  of  a  stenographer  before  them, 

91 


advising  them  of  the  press  of  business,  and  stated  I 
believed  we  should  have  one.  That  was  OKay.  Hence 
some  of  my  work  was  taken  on  by  some  one  else  so  I 
could  devote  more  time  to  conferences,  etc. 

At  that  time,  and  for  sometime  previous,  I  had 
been  in  touch  with  my  first  acquaintance  E.  K. 
Hughie,  and  kept  pounding  him  on  the  back  to 
pay  a  certain  note  of  H.  G.  Horchester  another  of 
Josephine  Horchester,  one  signed  by  the  Flandreau 
Co.,  the  L.  S.  Hughie  note  and  one  other  and  was 
meeting  with  pretty  good  success ;  cashing  in  all  the 
time.  He  asked  me  during  one  of  those  collection 
periods  whether  we  didn't  appreciate  8  per  cent  in- 
terest to  which  I  replied  that  100  per  cent  principal 
sounded  better  to  yours  truly. 

That  summer  was  very  warm,  in  fact  hot,  and 
every  time  he  and  I  went  into  conference  the  temper- 
ature would  rise  about  10  points.  You  see,  I'd  made 
up  my  mind  to  cut  that  line  down  at  any  cost,  and 
at  that  time  had  it  cut  in  two,  and  felt  I  would  have 
it  cut  out  all  together  if  a  sufficient  time  were  al- 
lowed to  elapse.  After  one  of  those  heated  confer- 
ences my  friend  Hughie  went  to  the  President  of 
the  bank  with  the  statement  that  I  was  taking  ad- 
vantage of  him  and  was  pressing  him  too  hard. 
The  President  thought  I  might  be  a  little  hard  on 
him,  but  in  my  persistency  and  bull-dodged  tenacity 
I  was  able  to  collect  one  every  now  and  then. 

All  during  the  summer  I  would  hear  a  little  more 

92 


Bull  stuff.  The  crop  wasn't  so  good  and  would  it 
be  possible  to  arrange  for  enough  feed  to  keep 
them? 

That  coming  winter  saw  us  enjoying  more  good 
will;  our  deposits  mounting  to  $1,175,000.,  no  mean 
total  for  a  town  our  size.  While  collections  got 
slower  and  slower;  the  farmer's  income  had  been 
materially  lowered  on  account  of  the  drastic  liqui- 
dation process  that  was  being  enacted  thruout  the 
entire  United  States,  and  yet  the  farmers  in  our  im- 
mediate locality  did  not  seem  to  suffer  a  great  deal. 
The  man  who  had  his  farm  fully  paid  for,  was 
getting  along  quite  well,  but  the  poor  devil  who  had 
a  lot  of  interest  to  pay,  was  commencing  to  have 
his  struggles. 


93 


CHAPTER  XL 

During  this  period  I  decided  a  show-down  would 
have  to  be  had  with  Charlie  Shafer;  a  show-down, 
sometimes  referred  to  as  a  re-ad justement. 

Since  starting  my  investigation  I  discovered  he 
had  a  first  mortgage  on  one  of  his  farms,  another 
first  on  the  other,  altho  his  statement  did  not  show 
that  to  be  the  case.  I  knew  also  that  he  owed  an 
amount  equal  to  the  amount  of  our  line  combined 
with  the  first  two  mortgages.  Whereupon  I  decided 
the  better  thing  to  do,  on  account  of  his  directorship 
in  our  bank,  was  to  get  a  mortgage  on  all  of  his 
lands,  which  was  done,  secured  by  465  acres,  a 
portion  of  which  he  might  have  sold  during  1919 
for  as  high  as  $250.00  per  acre,  having  just  prior  to 
that  time  sold  a  small  tract  for  somewhere  near  that 
price.  Our  mortgage  was  placed  on  record  and 
nothing  much  said  about  it. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  I  was  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  Commercial  Club;  elected  Treasurer  of 
the  Knights  of  Columbus.  Oh !  yes,  I  was  beginning 
to  be  a  power  in  the  commuinty.  Mothers  came  to 
me  asking  where  they  should  send  their  children  to 
school.  Farmers  came  and  asked  whether  I  thought 
they  should  buy  cattle  on  the  present  market  or 

94 


not?  Whether  they  should  cut  down  on  their  pig 
production.  Many  like  matters  I  was  interviewed 
about.  Ofcourse,  I  was  expected  to  answer  each  and 
every  one  of  them  intelligently  and  tried  to  co- 
operate as  much  as  possible,  standing  ready  to  do 
a  good  turn  for  them  whenever  possible. 

Wasn't  the  banker's  job  to  assist  everyone  in  the 
community,  in  most  every  capacity?  So  the  public 
thought,  and  took  advantage  of  it.  Even  dead  folks 
must  have  expected  help,  for  wasn't  the  banker's 
car  used  at  most  every  funeral? 

Another  Bull  Sale.  The  owner  apparently  didn't 
think  they  would  bring  so  much,  so  he  threw  in  a 
few  pure  bred  hogs  to  help  the  sale.  It  didn't  help. 
No  one  wanted  Bulls  and  neither  did  they  want  hogs, 
for  hadn't  the  hog  market  dropped  from  17  cents 
per  pound  to  7  cents?  Why  raise  hogs? 

Director  Shafer  was  much  interested  in  cattle, 
so  much  so  that  no  one  seemed  to  know  much  about 
his  financial  responsibility  (I  don't  believe  he  did 
either).  Alter  trying  to  answer  many  inquiries  I 
finally  decided  he  wasn't  the  right  type  for  a  di- 
rector of  a  bank.  I  called  him  in  and  reviewed  the 
matter  with  him  thoroly.  He  was  going  to  kick  me 
out  of  the  bank  (Many  times  since,  I've  wished  he 
had)  and  stated  he  was  a  higher  authority  than  was 
I.  Sure  that  was  true.  But  right  then  and  there 
I  more  than  exercised  mine.  The  result  was  that 
at  the  following  meeting  of  the  Board  I  had  a  re- 

95 


signation  written  out  for  his  signature,  handing  it 
to  him  to  read  and  sign.  You  bet,  before  I  got 
through  with  him,  he  had  it  signed,  and  glad  he  had 
done  so.  About  then,  I  obtained  a  chattel  on  his 
personal  property  (  there  wasn't  much  to  mortgage) 
and  a  Deed  to  the  farm,  to  save  the  foreclosure 
costs,  with  the  understanding  that  the  following 
March  1st  he  would  vacate  the  farm. 

That  March  1st  saw  us  again  with  much  work, 
making  up  more  notes  for  the  boys,  the  curb-stone 
bankers.  Ah !  you  bet,  weren't  we  a  real  bank, 
weren't  we  advertising  SERVICE  to  death,  doing 
each  and  every  little  thing  for  nothing?  Weren't 
we  collecting  taxes,  dog  licenses;  auto  applications; 
hunting  licenses;  drawing  Deeds,  Wills,  and  notes 
and  mortgages,  all  tree  of  charge? 

You  bet,  we  were  rendering  a  service,  at  whose 
expense?  You  bankers  know.  And  right  let  me  add 
that  the  banker  who  does  that  work  gratis  is  NOT 
a  real  service  to  the  community,  but  an  out  and  out 
damfool. 

Do  you  expect  to  walk  into  a  grocery  store  and 
walk  out  with  an  armful  for  nothing,  or  do  you 
walk  into  a  hard-ware  store  and  walk  out  with  a 
spade  for  nothing?  You  bet  your  life  you  don't.  You 
pay  real  money  when  you  get  anything,  money  you 
work  hard  for,  so  why  in  the  name  of  common  sense 
does  the  country  banker  deliver  his  merchandise 
free   of  charge?    I'll   tell   you   why,   because  we've 

96 


been  nuts,  and  didn't  stop  to  figure  our  business  as 
good  business  would  require.  You  can't  hope  to  do 
your  work  for  nothing;  pay  for  everything  you  get 
and  get  by  with  it. 

Since  that  date  tho'  many  bankers  have  been 
educated  and  are  now  making  a  reasonable  charge 
for  their  services.  We  changed  and  charged.  It's 
a  fact  that  your  service  is  a  real  asset  to  the  com- 
munity, but  does  your  community  appreciate  it? 
Wait  until  you  get  in  the  ninehole,  and  you'll  learn 
too. 

That  same  March  saw  the  bull  sale.  I  was  present 
at  the  sale,  again  prepared  to  bring  home  Cash,  real 
money.  But  the  boys  at  the  sale  didn't  have  any 
real  money  left;  they'd  spent  it  all  for  bulls  in 
former  years,  and  since  bulls  alone  do  not  propagate 
the  bull  market  was  not  so  bully.  I  was  getting  more 
and  more  discouraged,  and  again  wished  no  one  had 
ever  invented  such  a  thing  as  a  pedigree.  Didn't 
they  trace  their  lineage  back  beyond  the  day  of  the 
Queen  of  Scots?  Weren't  they  the  fine  Scotch 
Short-Horns?  You  bet  they  were,  but  no  one  seemed 
to  want  them  just  then.  They  wanted  to  wait  until 
times  got  better,  until  the  time  came  when  a  banker 
would  again  take  a  note  of  $10,000.00  for  a  bull  or  a 
note  of  $5000.00  for  a  fine  cow,  and  then  later  leave 
the  banker  holding  the  sack.  I  know.  You  know, 
those  fellows  were  getting  used  to  letting  the 
banker  hold  the  sack,  and  in  many  cases  the  banker 
was  getting  used  to  it  himself. 

97 


Today,  while  without  funds,  had  I  a  million  dollars 
CASH  OX  HAND  you  couldn't  sell  me  a  note  for 
more  than  $150.00  covering  the  best  pure  bred 
animal  in  the  world,  irregardless  of  what  any  bre- 
eder shall  say  to  the  contrary.  Why  man,  they're 
as  bad  as  promotion  notes,  for  after  all,  that  is  just 
what  they  are.  The  boys  get  together,  the  breeders. 
You  buy  my  bull  for  $50,000.00  we'll  go  out  and  tell 
the  world  about  it;  you  use  that  for  publicity 
purposes ;  I'll  come  to  your  place  next  year  and  buy 
one  for  $40,000.00  (hand  you  back  your  note  of 
$50,000.00,  you  see,  that  first  transaction  wasn't 
for  Cash  but  the  public  didn't  know  it)  and  take 
my  bull  home.  Now  then,  haven't  we  both  got  two 
fine  bulls,  wherewith  to  improve  and  build  up  our 
herds ;  can't  we  advertise  next  year  all  about  our 
high  priced  sires  and  dames ;  can't  we  trace  the  line- 
age back  almost  to  the  days  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
even  to  the  days  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  and  pos- 
sibly to  the  days  of  Noah's  ark?  All  that  would  be 
necessary,  would  be  to  just  add  a  few  more  names 
of  sires  and  dames  at  the  head  of  the  list.  Some  of 
you  boys  that  have  had  to  do  with  the  pure  bred 
business  know  whereof  I  write. 

That  March  1st  a  customer  who  had  sold  his 
farm  during  the  1919  Wild-Cat  days  did  not  receive 
the  interest  on  an  $18,000.00  mortgage  he  had  taken 
as  part  payment  from  the  new  purchaser. 

This  customer  had  sold  the  farm  for  $36,000.00, 
200  acres,  agreed  to  accept  $18,000.00  in  cash,  and 

98 


would  take  a  second  mortgage  on  another  farm  that 
the  purchaser  had  formerly  owned  and  upon  which 
he  accepted  a  second  mortgage  of  $18,000.00  in 
settlement  on  that  hectic  day  March  1st  1920.  This 
latter  farm  was  subject  to  a  first  mortgage  of  $16,- 
000.00  which  together  with  the  $18,000.00  second 
mortgage  and  $6,000.00  in  cash  made  up  the  con- 
sideration $40,000.00  he  had  sold  the  farm  of  160 
acres  for. 

My  customer  previously  accepted  the  $18,000.00 
mortgage  as  part  payment  on  the  farm  he  had  sold, 
having  it  placed  in  our  collateral  file,  as  security  to 
a  loan  we  had  advanced  him. 

With  the  non-payment  of  this  interest  on  the 
mortgage,  I  made  an  investigation  of  the  status  of 
the  first  mortgage  and  discovered  that  neither  had 
the  interest  on  that  been  paid. 

To  save  general  expense  all  around,  we  paid  that 
interest  in  the  hopes  that  conditions  with  the  maker 
of  the  mortgages  would  improve  to  a  point  where  it 
would  be  possible  for  him  to  pay  it.  That  day  never 
came  however. 

Another  year  went  by,  interest  on  the  second 
was  not  being  paid,  and  after  several  inspections  of 
the  farm  I  felt  it  wasn't  worth,  at  least,  it  wouldn't 
bring  more  than  the  price  of  the  first  mortgage,  so 
consequently  refused  to  pay  any  more  interest  on 
the  first,  foregoing  the  second  we  had  in  the  col- 
lateral file. 

99 


Conditions  continued  worse  in  that  respect,  with 
the  holder  of  the  first  mortgage  foreclosing,  and 
after  obtaining  title,  offering  the  farm  for  sale  at 
the  price  of  their  mortgage,  foregoing  interest  and 
expense. 

The  farm  went  begging  for  a  buyer  a  long  time 
after  that.    No  one  wanted  land. 

As  a  consequence  the  seller  of  the  local  farm  could 
figure  that  he  had  obtained  less  than  $100.00  an 
acre  for  the  place,  whereas  the  settlement  had  been 
made  on  a  basis  of  $200.00  and  the  financial  ar- 
rangements he  had  made  in  anticipation  of  this  $18,- 
000.00  being  good,  were  entirely  disarranged  —  my 
collateral  file  was  somewhat  disarranged  also,  for 
about  all  was  left  of  the  file  was  the  file  itself. 
The  contents  while  still  there,  weren't  worth  the 
paper  they  were  written  on. 

Now,  who  was  the  fool  in  that  case?  It  would  be 
mighty  hard  to  blame  anyone  in  particular. 

The  various  Court  Houses  of  the  State  were  com- 
mencing to  be  busy  places  also.  Our  County  Court 
with  its  tumble-town  shack  of  a  Court  house,  re- 
minding one  of  an  old  12  mile  house,  constructed 
of  brick  partially  decayed,  presented  a  very  delapi- 
dated  appearance.  Yet  it  served  its  purpose  just  as 
well  as  some  of  the  elegant  Court  Houses  of  the 
State,  the  cost  of  which  had  been  met  with  a  Bond 
Issue  voted  by  the  farmers  of  that  community  at  a 
time  when  prices  were  up  and  going  up  every  day. 
About  this  time  they  were  feeling  the  brunt  of  the 

100 


burden  of  this  additional  taxation  and  wished  they 
hadn't  built  this  large,  beautiful  cut-stone  Court- 
House,  to  which  many  of  them  were  being  virtually 
led  on  a  foreclosure  proceeding.  You  see,  his  vote 
had  assisted  in  building  it,  but  his  vote  at  the  same 
time,  pledged  his  farm  to  help  defray  the  cost  — 
and  now  the  fiddler  had  to  be  paid. 

He'd  probably  go  to  the  bank  for  assistance  but 
found  that  the  string  the  banker  was  using  was  a 
much  stronger  one  than  he  had  used  in  former  years, 
and  found  out  that  the  banker  was  getting  tight, 
as  he  termed  it.  It  wasn't  a  case  of  the  banker  being 
tight,  just  a  little  more  cautious,  that's  all. 

Spring  came  early  that  year;  farmers  got  busy 
putting  in  the  crop,  and  much  of  my  time  was  spent 
in  trying  to  cool  off  some  of  my  HOT  notes;  you 
see  the  coming  heat  of  the  summer  would  make  them 
hotter,  if  such  were  possible.  Much  of  my  time 
was  spent  in  trying  to  collect  this  one  or  that  one. 
I  had  not  taken  a  vacation  since  coming  to  Bellevue 
and  felt  a  vacation  of  about  30  days  during  the 
month  of  June  would  do  me  a  lot  of  good  so  prepara- 
tory to  leaving  I  tried  to  make  all  the  collections  I 
could.  They  staid  slow  tho'.  The  patient  wasn't 
showing  much  improvement,  much  as  the  nurse  was 
babying  things  along. 

just  about  then  we  were  favored  with  the  account 
of  the  Henry  G.  Johnson  Piano  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, that  coming  giant  of  the  industrial  world; 
they  had  been  doing  business  prior  to  then,  with 

101 


another  institution  in  the  town,  from  which  insti- 
tution Henry  had  bot  the  plant.  Henry  called  one 
day  and  stated  he  wished  to  open  an  account.  My 
reply  was  I  would  be  glad  to  have  him  do  so,  where- 
upon he  pushed  in  a  flock  of  Trade  Acceptances 
telling  me  to  discount  them  and  give  the  Company 
credit.  Get  that,  he  didn't  ask  whether  we  would 
discount  them.  He  just  told  me  to  discount  them. 
I  replied  I  would  take  the  matter  up  with  the  Com- 
mittee, lcok  up  the  ratings  of  the  makers,  and  if 
agreeable,  we  would  be  glad  to  credit  his  account 
within  the  next  few  days. 

"Why"  replied  Henry  "our  endorsement  is  on  the 
back,  you  see,  we  guarantee  their  payment". 

That  was  alright  with  me,  but  not  knowing  any- 
thing of  the  condition  of  the  company  I  preferred 
looking  up  the  acceptor.  Henry  seemed  a  little  dis- 
appointed but  nothing  else  was  to  be  done.  From 
that  day  on  the  account  was  one  of  those  you  had 
to  watch  every  day.  We  didn't  want  a  continuous 
overdraft ;  we  didn't  want  to  pay  a  big  one  unless 
they  had  the  funds  on  hand. 

At  that  same  time  another  fellow  with  a  lot  of 
pepper  opened  an  acount  under  the  name  of  Schmitt 
Motor  Co.  He  peddled  Ford  cars,  and  would  trade 
for  most  anything  from  a  silver  watch  up.  During 
that  season  he  sold  some  80  cars,  so  much  down  and, 
so  much  when  he  could  catch  him.  Some  of  them  he 
never  could  catch.  He's  sell  any  old  can  to  anybody, 
take  a  dollar  down,  if  he  could  get  it,  and  take  his 

102 


chances  on  the  balance.  Oh!  yes,  he  was  a  hustler, 
finally  hustling  the  business  off,  and  we  thanked 
goodness  he  was  out  of  town. 

I've  always  enjoyed  handling  automobile  paper; 
my  experience  with  it  has  been  very  good ;  for  many 
a  man  would  almost  steal;  would  leave  his  family 
go  without  the  very  necessities  of  life;  just  to  main- 
tain his  payments  on  the  car.  You  have  them  in 
your  community ;  every  community  has  them. 

June  1st,  the  date  I  had  set  for  my  vacation 
came.  One  bright  morning  the  good  wife,  Bob  and  I 
set  out  for  Browns  Valley  for  my  first  vacation. 
The  trip  was  uneventful;  the  car  practically  new; 
the  tires  in  good  shape,  so  there  at  least  was  one 
place  I  wasn't  going    to  have  any  trouble. 

Upon  arriving  at  the  Valley  we  put  up  with  Herb 
Koepke  and  his  good  wife  Floss;  spent  a  few  days 
around  the  town  meeting  the  boys;  everyone  was 
glad  to  see  me.  Many  of  them  asked  whether  I  was 
coming  back  to  the  Browns  Valley  State;  some  in- 
sisted that  I  do  so.  My  answer  was  that  I  was 
vacationing  and  would  do  nothing  but  enjoy  myself. 
The  third  day  in  town  I  received  a  telegram  from  one 
of  the  boys  at  the  bank  with  reference  to  the  Piano 
Company  account,  after  me  telling  them  I  didn't 
want  them  to  bother  me  with  any  details ;  that  this 
was  going  to  be  a  real  vacation;  that  I  wanted  to 
forget  everything;  and  here  they  were,  wiring  me 
what  to  do  about  a  certain  matter  relative  to  the 

103 


account.    My    wired    reply  was    short  and  snappy 
asking  them  to  hold  it  over  until  I  returned. 

Matters  went  on  pleasantly ;  parties  were  again 
on  order;  we  attended  many  dances  at  the  Hartford 
Beach;  many  a  drive  to  the  South  Dakota  Hills,  the 
Indian  Reservation  particularly  appealing  to  us. 
Dinners  until  we  could  hardly  do  justice  to  them, 
wThen  one  day  upon  calling  at  the  bank  a  telegram 
was  handed  me  advising  of  a  certain  draft  on  one  of 
the  other  banks  in  our  town  having  gone  to  protest, 
the  draft  being  for  a  considerable  amount,  and  asked 
what  should  they  do  about  it?  Ye  Gods!  there  I 
was,  supposed  to  be  having  a  vacation,  one  of  these 
kind  you  read  about,  carefree  and  all  that;  just 
supposed  to  be,  and  now  again  being  harassed  with 
business.  I  felt  sure  I  would  not  be  bothered  on  that 
trip,  and  felt  that  once,  for  two  and  half  years,  I 
would  not  have  any  particular  worries,  but  the 
Powers  that  Be  would  have  otherwise,  and  it  ap- 
parently was  not  in  the  cards  that  I  should  get 
along  without  an  unusual  amount  of  GRIEF. 

When  the  telegram  came  in  I  thought  the  best 
thing  to  do  was  to  pull  for  home;  breaking  an 
excellent  vacation  suddenly ;  the  folks  couldn't  under- 
stand why  I  had  gotten  in  such  a  hurry.  I  knew, 
but  what  could  I  say? 

Again,  comes  to  mind  the  hope  and  prayer  of  a 
good  many  mothers,  that  their  son  should  grow  up 
to  be  a  banker.  Little  do  they  dream  what  the  past 
8  years  held  in  store  for  many  a  banker,  and  to  pass 

104 


on  to  posterity  this  book  is  being  written.  The 
writer  knows  he  will  incur  the  ill  will  of  a  few,  but 
feels  that  the  tremenduous  amount  of  good  it  will 
accomplish,  will  be  ample  recompense.  Fve  been 
abused,  cussed  and  discussed;  threatened  and  what 
not,  but  Fm  still  alive;  still  have  ample  energy; 
haven't  lost  my  hold  on  life  and  not  sour  on  the 
world ;  still  ready  to  do  for  the  other  fellow.  Yes  sir, 
my  ambition  is  still  on  the  job.  My  disposition  at 
the  time  of  writing  this  particular  line  is  far  better 
than  anytime  since  1920. 

Since  I  used  the  word  "threatened"  I'll  relate  a 
threat  I  received  in  the  mails  one  evening  from  a 
local  borrower  who  said  if  I  didn't  lay  off  him  'he 
would  get  me'.  I  got  the  letter  at  6;30  in  the 
evening,  jumped  into  the  car  and  directly  to  his 
house  I  went.  He  was  out  on  the  porch,  lying  in  a 
hammock,  reading  the  evening  paper.  As  soon  as  I 
approached  the  porch  he  arose.  I  threw  his  letter  at 
him,  called  him  a  dirty  son-of-a-b  and  asked  him 
to  step  off  the  porch.  He  was  one  of  those  yellow 
birds  that's  strong  when  it  comes  to  writing  you 
something,  but  mighty  weak  when  it  comes  to  back- 
ing it  up  with  his  fists.  I  finally  slapped  him  one 
in  the  puss,  returned  to  the  car,  and  came  home. 
He's  been  a  pretty  good  friend  of  mine  since. 

Upon  my  return  from  my  vacation  after  having 
enjoyed  the  excellent  hospitality  of  the  Browns 
Valley  people,  I  immediately  proceeded  to  see  what  I 

105 


could  do  about  the  protested  draft.  Walking  down  to 
the  other  bank  I  was  advised  the  Cashier  was  out 
of  town.  I  took  the  matter  of  our  bad  draft  up  with 
the  assistant-cashier  and  was  advised  that  I  would 
have  to  wait  until  the  Cashier  returned.  Along  about 
noon  the  Cashier  handed  me  a  new  draft  with  the 
statement  it  was  good.  I  was  glad  to  get  it  and 
returned  to  our  bank ;  had  the  boys  clear  it  with  the 
remittances  and  everyone  was  happy  again. 

Some  days  later  a  notice  of  protest  of  the  new 
draft  came  to  hand  and  again  I  wended  my  way 
down  to  see  the  Cashier.  Again  he  was  reported 
cut  of  town.  The  following  day  I  cohered  him  on 
the  street;  we  went  to  his  bank  v/here  he  advised 
he  had  a  lot  of  good  notes  he  would  give  me  in  pay- 
ment of  the  draft.  Rather  than  accept  another  draft 
I  felt  my  taking  the  notes  would  be  best  for  us. 
There  I  was  walking  into  more  grief,  yes  GRIEF 
and  nothing  else  but.  After  reviewing  some  of  the 
names  and  amounts  I  was  handed  enough  notes  to 
cover  the  draft  and  returned  to  our  bank.  In  taking 
over  some  of  their  notes  was  one  signed  by  a  widow, 
residing  in  our  town,  a  widow  reputed  worth 
$20,000.  or  more,  who  would  have  funds  coming  to 
her,  at  present  tied  up  in  that  bank,  since  the 
previous  March  1st,  pending  a  correction  of  the 
abstract  of  title,  covering  land  previously  sold. 

Apparently  however,  they  were  not  her  funds, 
for  so  the  District  Court  later  held,  holding  that  the 
funds  belonged  to  the  party  placing  them  there,  who 

106 


instructed  an  officer  of  that  bank  not  to  pay  the  funds 
until  the  abstract  was  completed.  This  particular 
case  for  the  two  years  following  took  considerable  of 
the  writer's  time,  without  compensation  (another 
service). 

Oh !  yes,  I  was  reimbursed,  reimbursed  by  losing  a 
good  many  fine  acounts,  just  because  the  truth  of 
my  testimony  happened  to  be  unfavorable  to  them, 
but  then,  sometimes  that's  what  you  get  for  telling 
the  truth.  I've  listened  to  a  good  many  people  on 
the  witness  stand,  many  of  them  I  wouldn't  believe 
under  17  oaths,  say  nothing  of  one,  and  they  seem 
to  fare  pretty  well,  at  least  they  fare  better  than  it 
has  been  my  lot  to  fare.  The  entire  local  community 
know  whereof  I  write. 

From  the  date  of  accepting  those  notes  we  had 
more  or  less  difficulty  with  other  drafts  issued  to 
us  by  that  institution,  causing  me  to  go  down,  look 
thru  their  note  case  with  the  Assistant-Cashier  (the 
Cashier  was  mostly  absent)  choosing  such  notes  as  J 
felt  would  be  paid,  until  I  got  so  plum  disgusted 
with  the  whole  matter,  that  I  wrote  the  Federal 
Reserve  Bank  of  Chicago,  that  they  needn't  send 
any  more  checks  to  us,  drawn  on  that  bank,  that  we 
would  not  honor  them,  that  we  were  getting  dis- 
gusted with  accepting  protested  drafts  in  payment 
of  their  items.  They  promptly  sent  one  of  their 
men  a  Mr.  Forrett,  who  called  on  me  in  the  morning 
and  went  over  the  matter  with  me;  said  he  would 
go  down  to  the  other  bank  and  see  what  arrange- 

107 


ments  could  be  made.  He  visited  with  the  Cashier 
for  several  hours  and  returned  to  our  bank,  advising 
and  recommending  a  loan  of  10  grand  to  them ;  that 
they  were  willing  to  collateralize  the  loan  well  with 
stock  that  was  very  valuable;  that  the  Cashier 
hated  to  pledge  this  stock;  that  he  wanted  to  hang 
unto  it ;  that  after  considerable  persuasion  he  in- 
duced him  to  place  it  as  collateral  to  our  bank  for 
the  loan.  Now  then,  10  grand  is  a  lot  of  money  and 
I  knew  it,  and  had  a  pretty  good  idea  about  their 
bank  and  hated  to  make  the  loan.  Mr.  Forrett  as- 
sured me  it  would  be  a  high  grade  loan  and  all  of 
that.  Some  days  later  it  so  happened  that  in  the 
clearings  they  had  more  of  cur  checks  than  we  had 
of  theirs,  so  rather  than  pay  them  the  difference, 
I  credited  the  difference  on  their  note,  reducing  the 
loan  to  7  grand,  plus.  Additional  help  was  furnish- 
ed the  other  institution  by  ourselves  until  the 
matter  became  impossible,  when  a  brother-in-law 
appeared  on  the  scene,  who  felt  he  could  safe  the 
situation  down  there.  I  believe  he  was  absolutely 
sincere  in  his  opinion ;  he  felt  he  could  do  so,  but  it 
was  mighty  hard  to  save  a  drowning  horse,  and  on 
October  12th  of  that  year,  they  failed  to  open  their 
doors. 

It  didn't  take  me  long  after  that  to  discover  that 
the  loan  we  had  made  them,  well  collateralized,  was 
no  good,  and  that  the  same  virtually  was  true  of 
the  collateral,  and  you  believe  me  the  mental  abuse 
I  gave  that  Chicago  bird  was  nothing  slow,  and  to 

108 


this  date  this  purported  representative  never  has 
shown  up  at  our  institution.  He's  probably  heard 
of  the  result  of  the  loan  and  no  doubt  had  assumed 
what  my  attitude  toward  him  would  be.  I  want  to 
add  it  was  one  of  the  worst  loans  we  ever  had ;  made 
against  my  better  judgement.  Understand,  that  was 
in  1922,  and  here  we  are  in  1928  and  no  Forrett 
shows  up.  If  all  of  his  efforts  are  as  competent  as 
his  efforts  here  were,  I  feel  sorry  for  him.  And  yet 
someone  dictates  how  you  should  run  your  business. 

Wasn't  I  being  pushed  by  the  Powers  that  Be  to 
liquidate?  Didn't  Chicago  call  me  by  telephone  one 
noon  and  insist  we  sell  our  bonds  ?  We  had  retained 
ownership  of  more  than  100  grand  up  to  that  time, 
altho  we  had  them  pledged  for  a  loan.  Letters  were 
received  from  time  to  time;  liquidate,  liquidate,  etc. 

The  good  old  United  States  Government  Bonds  we 
had  paid  one  hundred  cents  on  the  dollar  for  were 
way  below  par;  naturally  I  would  hate  to  sell  them 
at  a  loss,  but  that  didn't  seem  to  make  any  difference 
to  them !  you  liquidate  was  all  they  seemed  to  know. 

After  getting  the  telephone  call  referred  to  I 
decided,  in  disgust,  to  sell,  take  our  loss  and  forget 
it.  You  know  boys,  a  loss  of  that  kind  was  hard  to 
take.  Real  Bonds,  secured  by  the  assets  of  this 
Grand  old  United  States  of  ours,  that  everyone 
thought  would  always  be  worth  100  cents  on  the 
dollar,  selling  way  below  par. 

Didn't  you  convince  your  prospect  at  the  time 
you  sold  him  bonds  that  he  could  always  get  his 

109 


money  back  for  them,  anytime?  And  didn't  he  feel 
that  way  when  he  bought  them,  and  didn't  you  feel 
the  same  way  yourself  when  you  bought  yours? 
And  here  were  the  Powers  that  Be,  almost  ordering 
you  to  cut  your  investments  down,  liquidate,  until 
the  word  LIQUIDATE  began  to  smell  a  little. 

The  bonds  were  sold  at  a  terrific  loss  to  ourselves 
on  Oct.  19th,  at  which  time  I  could  not  help  but 
wonder  what  was  going  to  become  of  the  various 
assets  held  by  our  dear  Nation,  assets  they  received 
at  the  time  they  advanced  all  of  those  funds  on 
Foreign  Loans.  You  fellows  know  what  the  general 
result  of  the  Foreign  Loan  business  was. 

Oh !  yes,  the  boys  down  there  were  bright,  far- 
sighted,  and  recommended  conservative  liquid  loans. 
You  know  how  conservative  and  liquid  these  foreign 
loans,  made  during  the  war,  are. 

The  Campaign  of  cancelation  of  many  a  Foreign 
Was  Debt  pretty  well  matches  the  compounding  and 
compromising  many  a  man  has  been  compelled  to 
do  to  clean  up. 

At  the  time  of  the  Chicago  telephone  call,  I  became 
so  disgusted  I  told  the  man  on  the  other  end  of  the 
wire  that  he  was  welcome  to  come  out  and  run  this 
plant  himself  if  he  wanted  to  do  so.  He  said  he 
didn't  want  me  to  feel  that  way  about  it,  but  couldn't 
convince  me  to  the  contrary.  Anyway  the  bonds 
were  sold,  and  at  a  LOSS. 

It  is  a  fact  that  you  and  I  did  not  buy  them  on 
account  of  their  high  interest  rate ;  we  bought  them 

110 


purely  out  of  Patriotic  reasons;  we  wanted  to  do 
our  bit  to  help  win  the  war.  We  didn't  realize  at 
the  time  that  another  WAR  was  coming,  a  War  that 
to  many  of  us  meant  health,  property,  and  repu- 
tation, a  War  that  undid  many  a  bank ;  a  War  that 
removed  a  reputation  enjoyed  by  many  a  bank  for 
years;  a  War  that  wrecked  homes;  made  suicides 
of  people ;  people  who  would  not  under  any  ordinary 
circumstances  think  of  doing  such  an  act;  a  war 
that  brought  about  the  closing  of  many  a  Middle 
Western  Country  bank,  a  bank  that  probably  had 
been  in  existence  a  good  many  years ;  a  War  that 
closed  a  good  many  of  our  city  banks  as  well  (I  have 
but  to  refer  to  Iowa's  largest  town)  ;  a  War  that 
brought  havoc  and  desolation  to  the  entire  Middle 
West;  a  War  that  threw  entire  agricultural  com- 
munities into  a  chaotic  condition,  and  what  was  it 
all  about? 

ABSOLUTELY  NOTHING  BUT  A  RE-ADJUST- 
MENT OF  THE  WLD  CAT  DAYS  OF  1919. 

Who  was  to  blame  for  it  ?  Nobody  but  the  public 
themselves.  They  brought  it  upon  themselves  by 
spreading  out  in  1919  and  were  unable  to  draw  in 
their  horns  in  time  to  meet  the  adjustment  period. 
Yet,  who  got  the  blame  for  it?  Nobody  but  the 
banker  ofcourse.  Wasn't  he  at  the  bank  for  every 
purpose  under  the  sun?Wasn't  he  supposed  regulate 
the  entire  community?  (Yes,  in  the  minds  of  some). 
Didn't  people  flock  to  him  for  his  advise,  and  if 
perchance  the    advise    went  wrong,  wasn't  he  to 

ill 


blame  for  it  ?  And  wasn't  it  a  fact  that  if  the  advise 
did  turn  out  sound,  the  dear  man  took  creidt  for 
his  farsightedness,  and  never  once  gave  the  poor 
devil  in  the  bank  credit  for  his  advice? 

You  bet,  if  you  were  wrong  you  were  considered 
but  a  fool ;  if  you  were  right,  would  the  son-of-a-gun 
come  back  and  thank  you  or  offer  to  pay  you  for  the 
sound  advice  you  gave  him?  which  advice  may  have 
meant  thousands  of  dollars  to  him?  Of  course,  he 
wouldn't. 

The  Fall  of  1922  as  every  banker  in  the  agricul- 
tural section  well  knows  saw  the  grief  crawling  up. 
The  original  promotion  notes,  some  paid,  and  many 
renewed  from  time  to  time,  on  account  of  the  in- 
ability of  the  maker  to  raise  the  money.  What  else 
could  you  do?  Carry  on  with  him  in  the  hopes  that 
the  future  might  hold  better  things  for  him,  and 
when  that  time  came,  he  might  clean  up  the  balance 
he  owed.  Many  letters  were  written;  you  see,  the 
maker  DID  hear  from  the  notes  again,  altho  the 
promotors  had  told  him  the  chances  were  he  never, 
would  hear  anything  more  about  them.  Note  the 
word  "chances". 


JJ2 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Yes  sir,  the  closing  of  that  institution  did  not 
mean  much  to  the  local  public,  for  they  did  not  seem 
to  be  much  surprised.  Everyone  sort  of  took  things 
in  a  matter  of  fact  way.  We  were  fortified  with 
currency  in  the  event  the  public  might  feel  we  would 
be  next  in  order;  in  case  they  would  get  panicky 
we  could  weather  quite  a  heavy  storm.  However, 
the  public  treated  us  very  nicely  and  our  business 
went  on  about  as  usual. 

Earlier  that  summer  the  Henry  G.  Johnson  Piano 
Mf'g  Co.  seemed  to  be  having  more  or  less  difficulty 
financially.  They  were  hard  pressed  all  of  the  time 
and  negotiated  several  firm  loans  with  us,  carrying 
the  endorsement  of  the  Boss's  wife,  who  was  a 
participant  in  a  very  large  Trust  Fund  in  some 
Chicago  Bank.  With  that  information  and  knowing- 
it  to  be  positive,  we  did  advance  several  loans  from 
time  to  time. 

The  day  came,  however,  when  t  he  Company 
SPREAD  OUT  a  little  to  far  and  needed  additional 
financial  help,  and  since  we  did  not  see  our  way 
clear  to  advance  these  additional  requirements, 
Henry  decided  a  Bond  Issue  would  be  in  order,  for. 
wasn't  everybody  issuing  bonds?    Sure,  why  not? 

113 


Yes,  bonds  were  the  thing-.  People  had  been  educated 
to  buy  bonds  during  the  war ;  sure,  they'd  buy  more 
of  them;  they'd  learned  they  were  a  pretty  nice 
thing.  So  Henry  proceeded  to  arrange  for  the  Bond 
Issue,  naming  our  bank  as  Trustee  of  the  Issue,  and 
making  arrangements  with  a  Chicago  Broker  to  have 
him  dispose  of  the  bonds. 

The  bonds  Were  dated,  issued  and  delivered  on 
August  1st  1922  drawing  interest  at  the  rate  of  7 
per  cent,  semi-annually.  The  broker  didn't  seem  to 
get  anywhere  with  the  sale,  selling  only  about$1500 
whereas  he  agreed  to  sell  $125,000.00.  Being  put  up 
against  the  gun,  Henry  took  the  matter  up  with  the 
Commercial  Club,  for  weren't  Commercial  Club's  for 
that  purpose?  Hadn't  they  assisted  him  previously 
in  selling  stock  around  town  ?  so  the  Company  could 
proceed  toward  the  higher  realms  of  industrialism? 

Why  sure,  they  had,  and  were  willing  and  glad  to 
assist  in  the  sale  of  the  bonds. 

Promptly  a  meeting  was  called.  A  committee 
named  to  go  out  and  sell  which  they  did.  While 
folks  looked  at  the  entire  proceedings  out  of  the 
corner  of  one  eye,  didn't  they  possess  that  civic 
pride  every  resident  of  every  town  should  have? 
Didn't  they  have  a  real  factory  here,  employing  a 
large  amount  of  help,  210  people;  a  factory  that 
they  wanted  to  see  do  well,  which  would  eventually 
help  toward  the  general  improvements  around  the 
town?    Hadn't  town  property  doubled  in  price  the 

114 


last  few  years,  due  to  nothing  but  the  Piano  Factory  ? 
Weren't  we  all  more  or  less  interested?  Didn't  many 
of  us  own  stock  in  the  plant?  and  why  wouldn't  we 
buy  bonds  and  help  our  own  plant  along?  Weren't 
the  merchants  interested  in  seeing  it  do  well,  for 
weren't  they  selling  more  groceries  as  a  result  of 
the  factory  being  here?   Of  course  they  were. 

So  everybody  out  and  sell  bonds.  About  $40,000. 
of  the  issue  was  sold  at  the  time.  The  company  was 
tided  over  temporarily  at  least  and  the  wheels  of 
industry  hummed  merrily  on. 

Henry  was  a  hard-boiled  fellow  at  times,  and  hard 
pressed  at  others.  Many  a  time  when  in  the  latter 
condition  he  would  come  to  me  and  ask  me  for 
funds,  almost  cry  for  them,  but  without  avail,  for 
hadn't  we  advanced  him  the  limit?  And  yet  the 
general  public  had  the  stinking  idea  that  we  owned 
the  Piano  Factory.  What  little  they  knew  about  it, 
and  yet,  how  could  you  prevent  their  talking  about 
it? 

Anyway,  business  at  the  factory  looked  up,  many 
pianos  were  being  manufactured  and  sold;  (Music 
charmed  the  soul  so  Pianos  were  made  to  furnish 
that  music)  ;  an  air  of  prosperity  was  about  the 
place,  but  their  balance  with  us  did  not  seem  to 
grow  by  leaps  and  bounds  as  they  previously  antici- 
pated, and  neither  were  they  retiring  their  indebted- 
ness as  they  had  expected,  altho  they  were  manu- 
facturing 17  Player  Pianos  daily.     Right  then  and 

115 


there  I  began  worrying  for  them.  You  know,  I  had 
that  terrible  faculty  of  worrying  for  the  other 
fellow.  Not  only  for  him,  but  with  him.  And  many 
a  time  I  was  compelled  to  do  things  I  would  rather 
not,  just  to  forget  the  other  fellow's  GRIEF  and 
mine  too. 

Immediately  following  the  closing  of  the  first  in- 
stitution of  the  town  I  walked  down  the  street  to 
the  other  bank  in  town ;  told  the  owner  and  Cashier 
that  I  would  like  to  talk  with  him  in  the  back  room. 

Upon  retiring  to  the  back  of  the  bank  we  seated 
ourselves,  whereupon  I  told  him  that  in  view  of  the 
closing  of  the  other  bank,  he  might  like  to  go  over 
matters  with  me,  and  that  it  might  be  advisable  to 
join  hands  to  weather  a  possible  aproaching  storm. 
Both  of  us  might  be  better  off.  He  made  no  reply. 
There  I  was  again,  eager  and  ready  to  be  of  service, 
not  only  to  the  community,  but  to  a  competitive 
banker  as  well.  I  told  him  that  in  event  he  would 
have  any  trouble,  we  would  be  glad  to  co-operate 
with  him ;  take  over  such  paper  as  would  be  accept- 
able to  me;  furnish  currency  for  it,  and  be  of  any 
further  help  he  might  need.  His  only  answer  was 
staring  into  space.  Since  he  did  not  see  fit  to  reply 
to  the  very  fine  offer  I  had  made  him,  I  returned 
to  the  bank,  and  allowed  him  to  paddle  his  own 
canoe. 

Upon  my  return  to  the  bank  I  made  statement 
to  the  boys  that  I  believed  "that  fellow  hasn't  got 

116 


a  'ell  of  a  lot  he  thinks  would  be  acceptable  to  us, 
or  he  would  have  at  least  said  something."  Little 
did  I  know  at  that  time  that  I  had  guessed  his  con- 
dition absolutely  correct. 

About  ten  days  later,  upon  arriving  at  the  bank 
rather  early  in  the  morning,  I  was  greated  by  Rexall 
Ragatz,  with  the  statement  that  the  other  bank  was 
closed  and  had  a  sign  on  their  door. 

I  can't  explain  the  feeling  that  went  thru  me.  I 
sat  in  the  back  room,  looking  out  our  v/est  windows 
and  could  see  an  imaginary  black  cloud  hovering  in 
the  sky,  and  immediately  went  to  the  work  room 
and  asked  the  boys  how  much  currency  we  had  in 
the  house.  Upon  being  assured  that  we  had  a  con- 
siderable supply,  I  felt  somewhat  better,  but  for 
some  reason  or  other  I  had  a  premonition  of  what 
was  to  follow. 

Some  folks  have  a  natural  intuition  of  things 
about  to  happen ;  a  sort  of  boreboding,  bringing  out 
the  old  saying  that  "Coming  Events  Cast  Their 
Shadows  Before/'  That  cloud  I  could  see  in  the 
Western  Horizon  that  morning,  did  not  look  good 
to  me.  I  went  about  my  work  as  usual  tho'  and 
nothing  of  importance  transpired  until  along  almost 
noon. 

People  had  congregated  about  the  streets  all  fore- 
noon and  no  doubt  slanderous  tongues  were  busy; 
gossip  was  rife;  and  when  I  say  gossip  I  am  re- 
ferring to  the  most  damnable  thing  in  the  world 
today ;  for  isn't  it  a  fact  that  fortunes  have  been 

117 


lost ;  reputations  built  up  by  years  and  years  of  hard 
work,  honesty  and  integrity  have  been  ruined  for 
no  good  reason.  Just  the  work  of  vile  tongues,  dirty 
low-livered  pups,  lower  than  the  skunks  that  spray 
and  yet  some  of  these  same  people  are  regular 
Church  attendants ;  pray  to  their  God  in  all  earnest- 
ness, and  immediately  upon  leaving  their  church 
proceed  to  do  all  the  dirt  they  can. 

If  the  education  of  our  young  America  today  were 
confined  to  teaching  nothing  but  the  harm  of 
Slanderous  and  Vilifying  Tongues,  a  purpose  would 
be  accomplished  that  would  be  far  reaching. 

Whispering  Campaigns  would  be  entirely  elimi- 
nated. A  man's  Character,  until  proven  otherwise, 
would  stand  where  he  say  fit  to  place  it;  homes 
would  be  happier;  the  divorce  Courts  not  cluttered 
up. 

Immediately  after  dinner  that  Saturday  noon  my 
premonition  of  the  morning  became  a  reality;  de- 
positors came  to  us  with  their  certificates;  with 
their  Savings  Pass  Books  and  with  their  Check 
Books.  Every  customer  seemed  to  have  an  insane 
desire  to  have  his  money. 

We  paid  it  out  graciously,  trying  to  be  pleasant  in 
the  face  of  adversity,  and  kept  paying  until  4  o'clock, 
our  usual  closing  time.  Having  a  nice  bunch  of 
currency  still  on  hand  we  decided  to  remain  open  a 
half  hour  longer  to  give  more  of  them  an  opportunity 
to  come  in  and  get  their  money  in  case  they  wished 
to  have  it. 

118 


I  might  write  pages  and  pages  of  individual  cases 
of  that  particular  afternoon,  but  shall  write  hut  a 
few. 

An  aged  lady  having  $1500.00  on  time  certificate 
of  deposit  wished  to  have  her  money;  it  wa?  paid 
to  her  by  one  of  the  boys  and  she  proceeded  back 
to  the  Safety  Deposit  Vault.  I  followed  immediately 
behind.  Saw  that  she  was  about  to  place  the  funds  in 
the  box,  and  walking  up  to  her  said  "My  dear  lady," 
we're  not  allowing  anyone  to  place  currency  in  this 
vault.  You  feel  we  are  responsible  for  their  contents 
and  we  feel  a  reasonable  responsibility  in  that  re- 
spect and  therefor  refuse  to  allow  you  to  put  your 
money  in  there".  "What  will  I  do  with  it"  she  said. 
"Well  it's  your  money,  do  with  it  as  you  please,  it's 
your  money"  I  stated.  "You  might  take  it  home  with 
you"  I  added.  "Oh !  I  wouldn't  do  that"  she  replied, 
"I'd  be  afraid  to  do  that".  "Well  that's  immaterial 
to  us,  you  do  as  you  wish  with  it,"  I  replied.  "Here" 
she  said  "you  save  it  for  me"  handing  me  the  cur- 
rency. 'If  you  give  it  to  me  I'll  put  it  right  back  into 
the  bank'  was  my  reply.  "If  you  do  that  I  might  just 
as  well  put  it  myself"  she  stated,  handing  me  the 
currency  and  asked  me  to  write  another  time  cer- 
tificate for  6  months  which  I  did. 

And  there  was  the  bird  who  was  hard  boiled,  cute, 
you  know.  That  is  he  just  thought  he  was.  Among 
the  currency  handed  him  for  his  $500.00  Certificate 
of  Deposit  was  a  $20  Gold  Certificate,  He  threw  it 
back  and  said  "I  don't  want  that  damn  dirty  yellow 

119 


money,  I  don't  believe  it's  any  good."  Of  course, 
the  assistant  handed  him  two  silver  certificates,  and 
I  leave  it  to  you,  which  was  worth  the  most  ? 

Then  again,  there  was  the  dame  who  handed  in  a 
Savings  Book  with  a  balance  of  $4.38  and  asked  to 
have  the  money.  It  was  paid  to  her,  and  about  30 
minutes  later  she  returned  and  said  we  forgot  to 
pay  her  interest.  Promptly  the  interest  was  com- 
puted. It  was  found  to  be  6  cents.  It  was  paid  to 
her.  For  hadn't  she  walked  back  5  blocks  to  the  bank 
to  get  it?  You  bet,  there  was  an  account  100  per 
cent  liquidated. 

Another  bird  came  running  in,  all  wild,  excited 
and  out  of  breath.  Probably  he  thought  he  would 
miss  getting  in  before  we  closed,  for  it  was  about 
4  o'clock  when  he  called.  He  dragged  a  check  book 
out  of  his  pocket  and  said  "What's  my  balance  in 
this  bank?"  Whereupon  one  of  the  boys  walked  back 
to  the  individual  ledger,  took  a  look  at  the  account, 
returned  to  the  window,  and  advised  him  he  was 
overdrawn  $12.80.  He  seemed  very  much  surprised, 
started  placing  the  check  book  back  into  his  pocket, 
and  that  was  about  the  last  straw  for  me.  I  walked 
around  into  the  lobby  and  here's  verbatim  what  I 
said  "You  son-of-  a-b  now  you  clear  up  that  over- 
draft before  you  leave  this  bank,  or  you'll  get  the 
damest  beating  you  ever  got  in  your  life.  It's  a  lot 
of  shi-teels  like  you  that  are  making  it  tough  for  us 
today."  He  countered  or  rather  tried  to  counter 
with  an  alibi  but  I  would  not  accept  it,  and  still  in- 

120 


sisted  he  would  have  to  clean  up  the  overdraft 
before  I  would  let  him  leave  the  bank.  He  dug  up 
two  ten  dollar  bills,  covered  the  overdraft,  and  took 
the  balance  due  him  in  change.  That  guy  later  car- 
ried a  very  fine  account,  and  I  don't  believe  ever 
went  to  the  red  side  of  the  ledger  after  that,  main- 
taining an  account  with  us,  up  to  the  date  of  our 
closing. 

The  evening  of  that  run,  I  sat  in  the  Apartment 
occupied  by  my  family  and  I,  sitting  near  the 
window,  slightly  raised,  taking  in  the  conversations 
and  here's  about  what  I  heard  for  almost  two  hours : 

"Gee,  I  don't  see  how  that  bank  can  stand  it'.' 

"My  gosh !  everybody's  drawing  their  money  out". 

"You  wait  till  Monday,  it'll  be  dam  tough  on 
them". 

"I  wouldn't  give  you  a  nickel  for  that  bank  right 
now,  they'll  never  stand  it". 

"I  don't  see  how  the  devil  they  hold  out". 

And  many,  many  like  statements  until  I  was  al- 
most insane.  You  know,  I'd  been  much  better  of, 
had  I  gone  to  the  rear  of  the  apartment  and  read 
a  slushy  story  or  something  of  that  kind,  but  natu- 
rally I  wanted  to  know  what  they  thought  of  our 
bank,  and  stuck  around  the  window,  and  believe  me 
they  didn't  think  much  of  us. 

I  didn't  sleep  at  all  that  night,  trying  to  figure 
ways  and  means  to  combat  the  situation.  I  took  the 
wife  into  my  confidence;  went  to  Church  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  and  during  the  dinner  hour  called 

121 


the  Cashier  of  one  of  Dubuque's  banks,  and  was  told 
I  could  have  the  currency  they  had  in  their  safe; 
every  bit  of  it;  that  they  could  get  a  fresh  supply 
later  Monday  morning  from  some  other  bank  in 
their  town.  He  gave  me  an  idea  of  about  how  much 
they  had  in  the  safe  and  I  felt  it  wouldn't  last  until 
10  o'clock,  based  upon  what  I  had  heard  the  previous 
night. 

Friend  wife  suggested  I  telephone  my  friend  Mar- 
tin Newcomer  of  the  Cedar  Rapids  National  Bank, 
an  old  and  dear  friend  of  mine,  which  I  promptly 
did.  After  telling  him  of  our  trouble  he  advised  he 
had  heard  so  on  the  street  the  night  before  in  Cedar 
Rapids. 

Oh!  yes,  adverse  bank  talk  travels  like  the  wind. 
He  asked  about  how  much  I  thought  we  needed.  I 
replied  "I  wish  to  God  I  knew  myself".  He  agreed 
to  bring  a  good  liberal  supply,  enough  to  knock 
them  dead,  as  he  put  it,  but  stated  he  could  not 
get  into  their  safe  until  8  ;30  the  following  morning 
and  that  he  could  not  reach  here  before  11;30. 
That  was  fine  and  dandy  with  me,  for  I  could  be 
down  from  Dubuque  early  the  following  morning 
and  probably  hold  the  wolves  off  until  Newcomer 
could  get  here  with  the  Currency. 

That  Sunday  afternoon  we  drove  to  Dubuque,  the 
wife,  Bob  and  I,  and  took  in  a  show  at  the  Majestic. 
You  can  appreciate  how  much  kick  I  got  out  of  the 
Show. 

122 


The  next  morning  at  7  o'clock  I  was  at  the  Du- 
buque bank  door,  awaiting  the  coming  of  someone 
to  give  me  the  Cash.  Shortly  he  came,  opened  the 
bank  and  the  Vault,  worked  the  combination  on  the 
safe,  but  it  wouldn't  open.  The  time  clock  hadn't 
run  down.  I  was  almost  beside  myself  with  fear, 
when  upon  a  fourth  attempt  the  tumblers  did  fall 
and  the  door  of  the  safe  opened.  All  of  their  cur- 
rency was  crowded  into  my  traveling  bag,  and  away 
I  flew  to  Bellevue.  I'm  using  the  word  "flew"  for 
that's  virtually  what  I  did.  I  drove  from  the  corner 
of  4th  and  Main  at  Dubuque  that  morning  to  the 
front  of  our  bank  in  32  minutes,  and  if  you  but 
knew  the  typography  of  the  country  around  this 
territory  you  can  appreciate  how  I  pushed  the 
machine.  It  was  a  Studebaker  and  any  Studie  owner 
knows  they  travel  plenty  fast  when  you  push  on  the 
accelerator.  Three  different  times  I  almost  wrecked 
myself,  but  overlooked  all  that;  I  was  anxious  to 
get  to  the  bank  before  the  boys  run  out  of  money. 

Eldred  Graaff,  my  first  assistant  had  returned 
from  Maquoketa,  where  he  had  obtained  some  cur- 
rency, not  however,  without  being  turned  down  by 
an  officer  of  one  of  their  banks.  He  said  he  couldn't 
spare  any  currency.  Eldred  went  to  another  Bank. 

Ye  Gods !  even  the  bankers  were  losing  confidence 
in  themselves,  could  I  blame  the  public?  Between 
the  currency  pitched  into  the  safe  and  the  funds 
Eldred  had  obtained  from  another  Maquoketa  Bank 
I  felt  we  could  handle  them  until  noon. 

123 


The  boys  were  busy  with  many  folks  in  the  lobby, 
when  I  arrived.  Of  course  everybody  was  after  their 
dough  and  they  were  getting  it  too.  We  continued 
paying  out,  altho  many  of  our  broad  minded 
merchants  called,  made  their  regular  deposits  and 
tried  to  allay  the  fear  possessed  by  many  people ; 
telling  the  person  next  to  him  that  he  was  a  fool 
to  take  his  money,  but  the  person  wasn't  under- 
standing English  at  that  particular  time  and  in 
many  cases  took  his  money  just  the  same. 

Right  now  I  have  in  mind  a  Doctor  who  called  and 
made  three  deposits  within  two  hours;  he  was  car- 
rying more  than  a  few  checks  and  a  little  currency 
to  the  bank ;  he  was  carrying  Good  Will,  which  was 
our  biggest  asset  (excepting  the  cash  ofcourse)  at 
that  time. 

Things  went  along  like  that  until  we  commenced 
getting  a  little  low  on  cash,  too  damiow  for  comfort, 
when  in  blows  a  big  touring  car,  finding  parking- 
space  at  a  premium,  stopped  in  the  middle  of  the 
street.  Three  big  huskies  jumped  out,  Mr.  New- 
comer, and  Mr.  Renberg  of  Cedar  Rapids  as  well  as 
a  U.  S.  Marshall,  who  accompanied  the  men  with  a 
big  shot  gun  or  two.  The  boys  brought  the  currency 
in;  dumped  it  on  the  counter;  I  went  to  pieces 
physically,  for  a  few  minutes  only,  and  you  believe 
me,  if  ever  I  was  glad  to  see  good  old  United  States 
Currency  of  the  Realm,  it  was  that  morning  about 
11:30. 

124 


The  bank  was  full  of  people;  Newcomer  asked 
whether  that  would  be  enough.  I  replied  that  I  hoped 
so.  He  said  "If  you  need  more,  Leo,  just  say 
so  and  I'll  telephone  back  to  the  bank  and  have  them 
bring  another  load".  Just  like  that. 

That  bank  nor  any  other  bank  wouldn't  bring 
such  a  shipment,  hadn't  we  the  backing  to  back  it 
up.  And  just  like  that  the  run  stopped.  A  veritable 
parade  followed  for  the  next  hours;  everybody 
wanted  to  see  the  big  pile  of  money  and  you  believe 
me  it  was  a  pile. 

That  night  the  boys  balanced  the  cash  $60,000.00 
short.  Where  was  it?  I'd  placed  it  in  the  front  metal 
waste  basket,  and  after  walking  up,  dumped  the 
contents  on  the  floor. 

Placing  it  in  the  waste  basket  was  a  precaution  I 
took,  unknown  to  anyone  of  the  force.  Since  the 
news  of  the  run  had  traveled  as  far  as  Cedar  Rapids 
the  Saturday  night  before,  couldn't  the  news  of  our 
having  oodles  of  currency  travel  just  as  fast?  And 
wouldn't  it  be  pickings  for  some  hold-up  crowd? 

To  meet  such  a  situation  I  had  deposited  in  the 
waste  basket,  so  we  could  continue  doing  business 
(paying  out)  just  the  same  after  the  hold-up. 

When  we  had  the  Cash  we  didn't  need  it.  You  all 
know  what  would  have  happened  if  we  hadn't  had 
it.  The  following  morning  we  received  a  large  ship- 
ment from  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank  of  Chicago,  of 
which  we  were  a  member,  and  then  had  so  much 
currency  we  didn't  know  what  to  do  with  it. 

125 


I  hired  two  watchmen,  stationed  at  two  different 
places  close  to  the  bank,  and  took  every  precaution 
possible.  Our  receipts  of  currency  during  the  day 
from  regular  business  were  heavy.  (You  see,  we 
put  a  lot  of  Jack  into  circulation  the  last  day  or  so) . 

We  were  happy;  we'd  weathered  the  storm,  and 
commenced  shipping  out  the  lucre  as  quickly  as 
possible.  We  shipped  it  out  in  Flour  sacks  and 
thanked  God  we  were  alive  and  happy  once  more. 

And  yet,  in  the  face  of  all  that,  there  was  the 
dirty  little  skunk  getting  in  his  dirty  work;  the 
silent  campaigner  conducting  a  Whispering  Cam- 
paign and  to  the  date  of  our  closing  February  14th 
1928,  that  dirty  campaign  continued. 

What  was  there  to  do  on  the  inside  against  such  a 
campaign?  You  just  had  to  eat  it  and  eat  it.  I've 
had  most  every  kind  of  an  experience  in  the  bank- 
ing business,  some  that  bankers  in  business  for  50 
years  have  never  had,  and  if  there  is  a  banker  can 
tell  me  how  such  a  situation  could  have  been  met,  I 
would  appreciate  him  advising  me.  While  Fm  out 
of  the  business  for  good,  yet  to  satisfy  myself  I 
would  be  glad  to  have  the  advice. 

From  that  time  and  up  to  our  closing  depositors 
seemed  just  a  bit  askance  about  re-depositing,  ad- 
vising the  lad  waiting  on  him  about  having  heard 
this  or  that,  and  in  90  per  cent  of  these  cases,  the 
report  was  nothing  but  the  bunk,  at  times  a  matter 
in  which  we  had  absolutely  no  interest  whatsoever. 

126 


Yes  boys,  it's  mighty  hard  row  to  hoe  when  the 
depositor  in  handing  in  his  certificate  looks  at  you 
with  a  question  mark  in  the  pupil  of  each  eye, 
wondering  whether  you're  going  to  be  here  6  months 
from  now,  or  gone  south  with  all  the  money ;  wheth- 
er you're  in  good  shape  or  not;  whether  he  should 
renew  the  certificate  or  take  the  money.  But  when 
the  handle  of  the  hoe  breaks,  your  nerve  gives  out 
and  you  feel  life  isn't  worth  living,  give  it  up  boys, 
you  might  just  as  well. 


12/ 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Immediately  following  the  closing  of  the  second 
institution  the  firm  of  Horchester  and  Hughie  made 
an  assignment  for  the  benefit  of  their  creditors. 
That  was  the  Hughie  previously  referred  to,  who 
was  supposed  to  be  as  good  as  a  Government  Bond. 
Subsequent  developments  proved  my  previous  con- 
tentions. (Loss  to  their  investors  over  half  a  mil- 
lion.) 

Up  to  the  time  of  their  making  this  assignment 
this  writer  had  collected  continuously  from  this  line 
and  its  co-interests. 

Just  now  comes  to  my  mind  the  last  collection  of 
$4000.  I  made  from  them.  In  opening  the  mails  one 
morning  I  noticed  a  sight  draft  of  $4000.00  drawn 
on  them,  got  on  the  telephone,  called  Mr.  Hughie 
and  advised  him  of  having  a  collection  of  $4000.00 
against  them,  and  would  be  glad  to  have  him  bring 
up  a  draft  for  the  amount.  About  11  ;30  that  mor- 
ning in  walks  Mr.  Hughie  with  a  draft  drawn  by 
one  of  the  other  banks  in  the  amount  of  $4000.00 
drawn  on  a  Chicago  bank,  handing  it  in  without 
any  comment,  excepting  "Good-morning".  I  had  two 
notes  of  $2000.00  each,  renewed  just  about  a  month 
previous  and  handed  him  the  two  notes  with  the 
words  "There  you  are". 

128 


He  looked  at  them  and  replied  "That  isn't  what 
I  want  to  take  up,  I  want  the  sight  draft  that's 
here".  "Yes"  I  said,  "but  these  notes  are  what  I  had 
in  mind.  We  wont  say  anything  about  the  interest, 
we're  willing  to  forget  that". 

He  stormed  out  in  front,  went  and  took  the  matter 
up,  with  the  President  again,  but  the  collection  I 
had  made,  stuck,  and  staid  put. 

About  three  that  afternoon  he  called  again  with 
another  draft  of  like  amount  by  the  same  bank, 
and  asked  for  the  sight  draft  before  handing  in  his 
second  Chicago  draft.  Naturally,  the  sight  drafts 
were  handed  him.  After  he  left  the  bank,  I  called 
the  Payee  bank  and  got  their  Okey  on  the  drafts. 
I  felt  he  might  have  the  drawer  bank  stop  payment 
on  either  one  or  the  other. 

A  few  days  after  that  event  I  tried  to  collect  an- 
other portion  of  the  line,  upon  which  he  was  an 
endorser,  but  he  said  that  they  were  crowded  at  that 
time  and  could  not  take  it  up.  That  was  the  last 
dime  I  was  able  to  collect.  The  balance  of  the  line 
was  plenty  small  so  it  didn't  worry  us  any.  We 
just  sat  back,  pleased  we  weren't  holding  the  sack 
like  we  might  have  some  years  previous.  We  didn't 
even  file  a  claim  for  our  balance,  for  we  felt  there 
wasn't  much  of  anything  to  be  had  anyway,  which 
developments  later  showed  to  be  the  fact. 

Let  me  add  here  DON'T  EVER  EXTEND  CREDIT 
TO  A  MAN,  MORE  CREDIT  TO  HIS  WIFE,  MORE 
TO     HIS    BROTHER-IN-LAW,     MORE     TO    HIS 

129 


FRIEND,  when  you  know  the  proceeds  of  each  and 
every  note  are  going  into  the  same  coffers.  That's 
a  terrible  practice. 

Accommodation  loans  are  the  ruination  of  many 
an  institution  and  the  quicker  those  accommodation 
lines  are  removed  from  your  bank  the  better  con- 
dition you  will  be  in.  While  your  published  statement 
does  not  reflect  this  condition,  yet  you  know  that  it 
exists  and  that  it  should  be  eliminated. 

It  is  an  absolute  fact  that,  while  we  did  not  file 
a  claim  in  those  receivership  proceedings,  you  could 
not  convince  the  public  that  we  did  not  get  rolled 
for  a  terrific  amount,  and  upon  that  belief  they 
started  dragging  more  of  their  deposits  away  from 
our  institution. 

February  1st  1923  came  along  and  the  H.  G.  John- 
son Piano  Mf'g  Company  advised  they  did  not  have 
the  wherewith  to  pay  the  first  semi-annual  install- 
ment of  their  interest  and  would  have  to  negotiate 
a  loan  for  that  purpose.  (Fine  Bond  Issue.  Wonder- 
ful.) Six  months  outstanding  and  no  funds  to  meet 
the  interest  payment. 

You  see,  the  plot  was  thickening.  No  arrange- 
ments could  be  made  to  make  the  loan  with  us. 
Henry  was  up  against  it,  when  along  comes  an 
order  from  Ben  Piatt  of  Los  Angeles  for  two  car 
loads  of  pianos  (at  a  price,  ofcourse)  which  saved 
the  day  for  the  time  being  at  least. 

The  interest  on  the  outstanding  bonds  was  paid, 

130 


and  every  bondholder  was  again  proud  of  his  in- 
vestment, for  wasn't  the  Company  making  a  lot  of 
money  to  be  able  to  pay  the  interest  on  their  out- 
standing bonded  indebtedness?  Sure,  they  must 
have  been. 

Right  now  I  want  to  make  a  statement,  broad  as 
it  may  seem :  ''During  that  period  of  time,  since  the 
closing  of  the  other  institutions  and  for  6  months 
more  we  rendered  a  real  service  to  the  community, 
a  service  that  would  be  hard  to  match  for  any 
country  bank".  The  real  worth  of  our  institution 
was  not  generally  known  to  the  folks  of  the  com- 
munity. 

Many  and  many  a  night  I  sat  in  my  little  back 
room,  devising  means  to  keep  the  good  ship  afloat; 
keeping  this  fellow  or  that  from  making  an  assign- 
ment for  the  benefit  of  their  creditors;  several  of 
the  boys  came  to  me  with  the  expressed  purpose 
of  so  doing,  and  I  would  do  my  best  to  prevent  them, 
advising  that  once  such  a  campaign  was  on,  nothing 
would  stop  it,  and  our  whole  community  would  go 
to  pot.  Didn't  I  talk  a  blue  streak  to  prevent  such  a 
condition,  and  many  of  you  bankers  know  what  the 
result  of  such  a  condtion  would  have  been. 

Some  of  you  have  had  such  a  condition  to  contend 
with.  A  condition  that  wrecks  havoc  where  some 
shyster  lawyer  recommends  it.  I  am  going  to  say 
more  later  about  a  Shyster  lawyer. 

At  that  particular  time  many  a  farmer  came  to 
me,  a  farmer  who  had  carried  his  account  at  one 

131 


of  the  other  institutions,  with  a  story  of  hard  luck, 
telling  me  about  the  going  being  tough  for  him 
and  asking  me  what  I  could  suggest?  Naturally  1 
gave  him  the  best  advice  I  could,  and  helped  him 
financially,  over  the  hump  as  it  were ;  was  the  good 
Samaritan,  and  glad  to  be  of  service. 

Didn't  I  talk  the  matter  over  thoroly  with  her 
who  had  her  all  down  below ;  who  didn't  have  enough 
money  to  pay  for  a  ton  of  coal ;  who  seemed  on  the 
verge  of  being  rash?  You  bet  I  did,  and  you  believe 
me  I  never  lost  a  dollar  of  money  so  loaned,  for  in 
time  I  was  able  to  get  the  son  or  the  daughter  or 
some  other  relative  to  come  to  her  rescue. 

At  that  time  we  were  a  real  service,  altho  I  do  not 
wish  to  infer  that  such  service  was  not  maintained 
at  all  times  since. 

Taking  care  of  the  entire  community  and  trying 
to  bring  the  chaotic  condition  back  to  normal,  taxed 
our  resources  to  the  utmost,  not  only  financially  but 
mentally  as  well,  with  the  result  that  shortly  people 
were  in  a  better  frame  of  mind,  and  returned  to 
their  former  selves. 

All  sorts  of  yarns  were  heard  about  this  fellow  or 
that,  about  this  fellow  running  away  with  a  lot  of 
money;  about  this  fellow  having  a  house  full  of  it, 
etc,  etc.  Just  now  comes  to  my  mind  the  fellow 
who  called  on  me  one  morning  and  said  he  was  up 
against  it,  having  lost  his  money  in  one  of  the  closed 
banks.  He  told  me  he  had  to  have  $400.00  --  that 
that  was  the  amount  he  had  tied  up  there. 

132 


I  knew  who  the  depositors  and  borrowers  down 
there  were,  for  I  had  a  schedule  of  their  entire  busi- 
ness on  my  desk.  I  listened  to  the  applicant  for  a 
loan  for  a  few  minutes,  tried  to  console  him  a  little, 
and  he  really  felt  I  was  falling  for  his  story,  where- 
upon I  said  "I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  If  you  can  show 
me  where  you  lost  that  amount  in  either  bank,  I'll 
give  you  four  hundred  dollars  in  cash ;  you  wont  even 
have  to  sign  a  note  for  it,  and  you  needn't  ever  pay 
it  back  either.   It'll  be  a  donation". 

I  said  it  with  more  or  less  emphasis  and  his  only 
retort  was  "Well,  I  guess  you  and  I  can't  do  busi- 
ness" to  which  I  agreed  and  walked  around  the 
counter  to  work,  he  leaving  the  bank  promptly. 
That's  another  of  the  stories  you  heard,  stories, 
yes  stories,  for  that's  all  they  were. 

Immediately  after  the  closing  of  the  first  insti- 
tution, a  merchant  of  our  town  (who  I  had  been 
soliciting  for  a  checking  account  for  3  years  came 
scurrying  into  the  bank  one  day  and  says  "Lee, 
here  I  am  and  I'm  going  to  stay". 

Naturally  I  was  glad  to  have  him  open  a  checking 
account,  and  so  told  him.  For  some  yean;  we  had 
been  loaning  him  funds,  various  amounts,  some- 
times as  high  as  ten  grand.  As  a  credit  risk  he  was 
perfectly  good.  He  was  a  good  merchant  and  we 
were  glad  to  let  him  use  our  funds,  even  tho'  he  did 
not  see  fit  to  check  on  us.  His  banking  connections 
were  no  more ;  I  told  him  I  would  be  glad  to  advance 

133 


additional  funds  to  assist  him  in  doing  business, 
which  I  did.  In  all  sincerity  he  advised  me  he  was 
for  me  first,  last  and  always.  It  made  me  feel 
awfully  good  to  have  him  with  us;  he  was  a  good 
man;  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  Commercial  Club 
and  a  good  Civic  Booster,  he  carried  a  nice  account 
and  the  boys  and  I  were  happy  to  have  him. 

Among  the  names  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of 
the  new  bank,  organized  a  little  later,  was  this  same 
merchant. 

The  bank  opened  for  business  and  the  above 
merchant  commenced  depositing  at  his  bank. 

Some  days  later  he  called  on  me  and  asked  me  to 
renew  a  note  he  owed  us,  which  was  due  on  that 
date. 

You  bankers  have  heard  of  cases  of  pure  unadult- 
erated guts.  Can  you  match  that  ?  I've  been  cussed 
and  discussed,  kicked  around,  taken  advantage  of, 
and  all  that,  but  such  a  case  seemed  like  the  last 
straw. 

While  he  was  at  the  window  I  advised  my  ap- 
parent staunch  friend,  that  his  connections  with 
this  bird  wTere  at  an  end;  that  we  didn't  only  want 
the  note  due  today  paid,  but  every  other  note  of 
his  we  had  in  the  case.  I  got  rough;  who  wouldn't? 
The  result  was  that  he  dug  up  the  funds,  paid  us 
all  and  done  just  a  little  retaliating,  if  you  wish  to 
call  it  that. 

He  was  an  ardent  booster  for  his  institution,  and 
should  be.  But  boosting  at  the  other  fellows     ex- 

134 


pense  isn't  right,  is  it?  Is  it  proper  to  boost,  and 
in  the  same  breath  knock  competition?  I  leave  it 
to  you.  Wasn't  there  enough  gossip  rife  locally 
without  having  a  director  help  feed  the  flames? 
Didn't  the  Cashier  of  that  place  telephone  the  writer 
his  sympathies  just  a  few  days  ago,  advising  at 
that  time,  that  he  had  always  cautioned  his  di- 
rectors not  to  talk  like  that?  If  they  hadn't  been 
talking,  what  was  the  purpose  or  necessity  of  ad- 
vising them  along  that  line? 

YOU  CAN'T  RUN  A  BANK  AGAINST  BLAH, 
BLAH,  BLAH. 

That  same  winter  upon  returning  from  Maquo- 
keta  I  had  the  misfortune  of  driving  over  the  edge 
of  a  precipice  at  the  top  of  Baker  Hill  (that  Jackson 
County  Road  bone  of  contention).  The  ne\*  Primary 
Road  was  in  the  process  of  construction;  a  large 
hill  was  being  cut  down.  The  fill  was  commenced 
from  the  top.  The  night  was  dark,  the  car  lights 
muddy,  and  I  could  discern  two  tracks,  either  of 
which  I  felt  justified  in  taking.  I  took  the  one  to 
the  left,  which  developed  to  be  the  tracks  taken  by 
the  trucks  that  hauled  the  dirt  for  the  fill.  Driving 
slowly  (unsual)  I  felt  my  way,  when  suddenly  the 
front  of  the  machine  dropped,  and  the  car  hung 
over  the  crest,  which  had  frozen,  solid  during  the 
early  evening.  The  abrupt  break  in  the  hill  led 
straight    down  about  60  feet.    This  experience  was 

135 


related  to  a  friend  of  mine  the  following  day,  when 
along  comes  one  of  our  little  country  papers  with 
the  headline: 

SCHMITT  ALMOST  GOES  INTO  HANDS  OF 
RECEIVERS. 

adding  their  story. 

What  the  purpose  of  the  editor  in  writing  up  the 
article  in  that  manner  was,  I  have  never  learned. 
But  the  very  next  day  when  a  Luxemburger  called 
and  wanted  his  money  because  he  said  he  heard  I 
was  going  into  Receivers,  I  realized  what  the  article 
meant  to  us.  While  but  a  few  depositors  took  that 
view  of  it,  yet  that  article  did  serve  to  feed  the 
flames,  and  my  firm  belief  is  that  newspaper  publi- 
city giving  the  banking  situation  a  black  eye,  from 
time  to  time,  should  be  suppressed.  Conditions  at 
that  time  were  bad  enough  and  I'd  venture  to  say 
that  every  reader  of  every  Iowa  newspaper  knew 
of  those  conditions,  and  it  wasn't  necessary  to  re- 
broadcast,  as  it  were.  Ofcourse,  people  want  news, 
but  what's  the  use  of  furnishing  news  after  every- 
body knows  all  about  it  anyway? 


136 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Another  March  1st  came  and  again  we  were  busy 
as  bees,  altho  more  of  our  time  was  spent  that  day 
paying  out  good  coin  of  the  realm.  Some  of  cur 
depositors  even  advised  they  were  going  to  take  it 
to  the  other  bank ;  that  they  had  heard  considerable 
about  this  bank  and  that  while  they  hated  to  take 
the  money,  yet  they  felt  they  would  do  so.  We  paid 
it  to  them,  in  the  hopes  that  at  some  future  date 
they  would  see  their  way  clear  to  again  patronize  us. 

On  August  first  the  second  semi-annual  install- 
ment of  interest  was  maturing;  the  Company  with- 
out funds  to  meet  the  issue.  I  recall,  the  President 
of  the  Company  calling  Ben  Piatt  at  Los  Angeles, 
by  long  distance  from  his  home,  selling  him  several 
car  loads  with  the  result  that  ample  funds  would 
be  on  hand  to  meet  the  issue,  and  again  the  Presi- 
dent called  on  the  Commercial  Club  with  the  state- 
ment that  the  business  was  growing  by  leaps  and 
bounds;  that  additional  Capital  was  required  and 
that  Ben  Piatt  had  been  his  meal  ticket  for  a  long 
time,  and  that  it  was  up  to  the  local  committee  to  get 
busy  in  order  to  keep  the  plant  in  Bellevue,  for  was 
not  another  of  Iowa's  industrious  towns  flirting  with 
the  company  with  a  view  to  getting  them  to  come 

137 


down  there?  and  hadn't  Henry  told  them  that  in 
case  they  raised  $100,000.00  he  would  put  in  a  plant 
down  there  too?  That  he  could  handle  both  plants 
as  easily  as  one? 

Of  course  the  boys  went  to  work ;  sold  many  of  the 
bonds,  but  their  efforts  did  not  meet  with  the  success 
their  previous  attempt  did. 

What  was  poor  old  Henry  to  do?  He  made  a 
personal  trip  around  the  country,  picked  up  a  large 
amount  of  orders,  purely  on  his  own  personality, 
and  again  the  business  of  the  factory  went  merrily 
on.  Pay  days  would  come  and  Henry  would  have 
to  have  some  money.  We  would  discount  a  sufficient 
amount  of  prime  paper  to  allow  the  pay  roll  to  be 
met,  and  then  have  some  of  the  employees  turn 
right  around  and  knock  our  institution  when  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  they  would  have  been  thrown  out 
of  a  job  that  very  night,  had  it  not  been  for  our 
coming  to  the  assistance  of  the  Company. 

You  bet,  the  old  saying  "Ingratitude  is  the  world's 
reward"  certainly  was  true  there.  I  would  meet 
an  employee  knowing  some  of  the  statements  he 
had  made  and  feel  like  I  should  take  the  matter  up 
with  the  President,  with  a  view  to  'getting'  his  job, 
which  I  could  easily  have  done,  but  my  spirit  never 
has  been  one  of  retaliation.  My  constitution  was  so 
made  up  that  I  could  overlook  many  and  many  such 
statements,  for  hadn't  I  been  overlooking  a  good 
many  of  them  for  years?  Wouldn't  I  go  to  dances; 
to  parties;  apparently  have  as  good  a  time  as  any- 

138 


one,  and  at  the  same  time  worry  about  this  or  that? 

Again  I  say  my  nerve  staid  with  me.  Hardly  a 
person  could  discern  that  I  was  anything  but  happy, 
but  God  knows  I  was  anything  but  that. 

Business  at  the  Factory  that  summer  went  along 
swimmingly.  Much  trade  paper  was  being  taken 
in  payment  of  their  merchandise,  and  we  being  the 
bank  used  by  the  Company  (favored  with  the  ac- 
count you  know)  discounted  much  of  their  Trade 
paper.  We  had  previously  subscribed  to  R.  G.  Dun's, 
looked  up  the  ratings  of  each  and  every  piece  of 
Trade  paper  offered  us,  discounted  what  was  good, 
until  such  discounted  paper  reached  a  total  that 
was  at  times  alarming  to  us,  altho  the  makers 
seemed  to  pay  on  presentation,  outside  of  a  very 
few  who  allowed  theirs  to  go  to  protest.  The  com- 
pany always  took  care  of  their  returned  protested 
items  and  the  line  was  kept  clean  and  alive  at  all 
times.   It  was  a  nice  profitable  business  for  us. 

Henry  and  I  had  many  a  conference  during  those 
times;  daily  he  would  come  down  to  the  bank  and 
advise  me  of  various  orders  he  had  received,  and 
that  with  continued  demand  for  pianos  his  busi- 
ness was  bound  to  grow  by  leaps  and  bounds.  He 
spoke  of  Roy  Waite  of  Chicago,  whom  I  later  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting;  a  pleasure  I  can  frankly 
say  was  actual,  for  to  me,  Roy  represented  one  of 
the  most  affable  agreeable  personages  I  knew;  pos- 
sessing a  personality  to  be  envied.    Talking  with 

139 


him  was  not  a  verbal  contest,  as  is  often  the  case, 
but  a  mutual  exchange  of  ideas. 

Henry  spoke  of  how  Montgomery  Ward  had 
financed  him  for  some  S30,000.00  in  opening  the 
Bellevue  Factory;  of  their  confidence  in  his  ability 
as  a  manufacturer;  of  his  shipments  of  pianos  to 
them  from  time  to  time,  and  they  were  getting 
a  little  incensed  about  the  quality  of  the  merchan- 
dise, and  preferred  having  their  funds  returned. 
What  was  poor  Henry  to  do;  money  couldn't  be 
picked  up  on  the  streets  and  neither  could  it  be 
fished  out  of  the  Mississippi,  adjoining  which  the 
Piano  Factory  buildings  were  located?  Under  the 
circumstances  Henry  believed  they  might  be  induced 
to  take  merchandise,  pianos,  for  the  balance  due 
them,  so  immediately  a  trip  to  Chicago  was  made. 

Yes,  they  would  settle  upon  that  basis,  I  was  told 
upon  Henry's  return.  Bill  Angsbach  was  foreman 
at  the  plant ;  had  orders  to  take  care  of  the  Chicago 
Company's  inspector,  whom  they  had  sent  out  to 
inspect  the  pianos  before  shipments  were  to  be 
made.  He  sure  took  care  of  him;  hauled  him  home 
once  or  twice  in  quite  a  helpless  condition,  probably 
due  to  some  Luxemburger  manufactured  liquid. 

One  day  Henry  called  apparently  happy  and  care- 
free, for  hadn't  the  complete  settlement  with  Mont- 
gomery Ward  been  made,  and  didn't  he  have  that 
obligation  out  of  the  way,  and  didn't  he  tell  me 
that  he  wondered  whether  the  varnish  was  still  on 
the  pianos  he  had  shipped  some  weeks  ago.   Yes  sir, 

140 


many  a  time  Henry  came  to  me  with  his  troubles 
also,  and  he  had  plenty  of  them.  Henry  possessed 
that  quality  termed  personal  touch.  He'd  touch  me 
for  a  loan  every  time  he  thought  I  was  feeling 
pretty  good. 

The  time  came  when  I  took  the  matter  up  with 
Henry  advising  that  the  line  of  discounted  paper  was 
too  large ;  that  he  would  have  to  look  elsewhere  for  a 
connection,  probably  discounting  at  the  other 
bank  in  the  town.  They  refused  to  assist  however, 
and  would  discount  nothing  for  the  company,  with 
the  result  that  our  lines  were  increased  to  a  larger 
total.  We  were  trying  to  co-operate;  be  an  asset 
to  our  community;  for  the  Piano  factory  meant 
much  to  the  town  that  year,  employing  some  170 
people. 

Fall  came,  and  some  of  the  boys  who  we  had 
financed  in  the  past,  some  farmers  who  had  been 
hard  up  a  number  of  years ;  held  propped  up  by  our 
bank,  saw  fit  to  make  a  change,  after  paying  their 
note  with  us  from  the  proceeds  of  their  hog  sale. 
You  bet  boys,  I  was  getting  repaid  for  my  services 
to  that  bird,  extended  to  him  at  some  previous  time 
when  our  institution  meant  almost  life  and  death  to 
him.  You  bankers  know  that's  the  kind  of  treat- 
ment you  generally  get.  Get  hard  boiled.  Don't 
give  anyone  your  money  unless  they  can  cover  twice 
over.  They'll  appreciate  it  more  and  will  do  a  good 
turn  for  you  sometime,  whereas  on  the  other  hand 
if  you  stretch  a  point,  you'll  pay  yourself  later  on. 

141 


The  Bank  examiners  called  during  October  of 
that  year,  the  boys  being  Fuller  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment and  Olmsted  of  the  Fed.  You  see,  we  always 
got  a  double  examination. 

You  boys  that  are  State  bankers  and  belong  to 
the  Fed,  know.  It  means  rummaging  thru  your  stuff 
twice  instead  of  only  once.  Putting  this  or  that  back 
into  the  file  and  than  a  few  hours  later  having  the 
other  examiner  call  for  it,  and  being  compelled^to 
dig  it  up  again.  Now  and  then  you  have  a  misplaced 
instrument;  you  look  into  every  nock  and  corner, 
it  doesn't  seem  to  be  in  the  proper  file  and  they 
look  at  you  like  you  might  have  some  purpose  in 
holding  out  on  them.  We  had  a  very  stringent 
examination.  Fuller  got  tough.  The  tougher  he  got 
the  madder  I  got,  until  he  mostly  took  the  heart 
out  of  me.  I  staid  with  him  tho'  until  the  completion 
of  the  examination,  whereupon  he  called  the  di- 
rectors as  they  usually  do.  He  got  hard  boiled  with 
them  too,  and  demanded  that  they  replace  certain 
assets  with  their  own  note,  advising  that  in  his 
opinion,  the  time  was  not  opportune  to  levy  an 
assessment,  and  that  the  privilege  of  making  an 
assessment  at  a  later  date  be  accorded  them. 

He  had  the  boys  filled  with  fear  and  foreboding, 
made  the  above  agreement  with  them  and  had  them 
sign  up  such  a  note.  Right  here  let  me  say  to  you 
bankers : 

DO  NOT  ALLOW  YOU  DIRECTORS  TO  EVER 
SIGN  SUCH  A  NOTE  IN  YOUR  BANK.    Rather 

142 


then  have  them  to  do  so,  levy  your  assessment  at  once 
or  lock  up  the  house.  Those  dam  directors  notes 
have  since  resulted  in  breaking  up  homes,  bringing 
otherwise  normal  men  almost  to  an  insane  stage, 
and  causing  an  untold  amount  of  additional  grief. 
For  why,  why  under  God's  sun  should  a  director 
of  a  bank,  who  owns  but  a  very  few  shares  of  the 
stock,  sign  such  a  note,  when  he  is  getting  abso- 
lutely nothing  for  it? 

Ofcourse,  he  feels  at  that  particular  moment  that 
he  does  not  want  the  examiner  to  lock  up  his  bank ; 
he  has  to  much  pride  in  it;  and  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment  signs  it  up.  The  examiner  walks  out  feeling 
happy;  feeling  he  has  accomplished  much  good 
for  the  depositors  of  that  bank,  when  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  they  have  brought  a  lot  of  worry  upon  the 
Board  and  officers  of  the  institution  as  well. 

Naturally  the  Board  of  Directors  want  to  co- 
operate with  the  State  Banking  Department;  are 
filled  with  fear  of  the  Department,  and  under 
Duress  would  sign  most  anything;  when  more 
mature  thought  would  prevent  them  from  signing. 

You  bankers  have  enough  of  grief  with  your 
depositors  and  borrowers  without  being  saddled 
with  additional  grief,  and  nine  times  out  of  ten  it 
shoots  the  morale  of  the  Board.  If  you  do  not  have 
such  a  note  in  your  case,  don't  for  land  sakes  allow 
one  to  enter  it.  From  that  date  to  the  closing  of 
our  bank  I  can  say,  without  any  spirit  of  egotism 

143 


that  my  indomitable  spirit  was  the  biggest  factor 
in  keeping  our  institution  open. 

The  paper  taken  out  at  the  time  of  that  exami- 
nation was  worked  on  diligently  by  the  Board  and 
myself  and  about  20  per  cent  collected,  the  balance 
being  held  in  the  hope  that  a  much  better  additional 
percentage  will  be  paid. 


144 


CHAPTER  XV. 

You  bankers  recall  a  few  years  ago  when  you 
had  a  case  full  of  first  farm  mortgages;  you  were 
slapped  on  the  back  and  told  you  were  a  fine,  a 
good  banker;  the  last  few  years  if  the  same  con- 
dition obtained  you  very  considered  anything  else 
but. 

What  good  were  the  farm  mortgages?  they 
weren't  liquid;  get  them  out  of  the  way  and  carry 
more  liquid  paper  buy  bonds  that's  what  you  ought 
to  have,  so  the  examiners  would  tell  you.  You  have 
probably  had  the  same  bond  experience  I  have  pre- 
viously mentioned,  selling  at  a  loss,  and  were  not 
so  keen  to  get  back  into  the  bond  market  again. 

Yes,  sir,  men  you're  a  darn  fool  if  you  do,  and 
you're  the  same  thing  if  you  don't.  Some  years  ago 
you  were  considered  a  conservative,  clever  banker 
for  having  those  mortgages,  for  what  better  invest- 
ment was  there  than  an  Iowa  Farm  Mortgage? 
Later  you  found  out  that  the  more  of  them  you 
had  the  tougher  the  going  was  and  the  more  'ell 
the  Examiner  gave  you.  It's  easy  enough  to  have 
them  come  around  and  tell  you  where  to  get  off  at; 
ask  you  whether  you  are  trying  to  own  all  the  real 
estate  in  the  County?    Had  you  known  conditions 

145 


such  as  came  were  coming,  you  would  have  had  one 
of  the  most  liquid  banks  in  the  world,  you  didn't 
know  it  and  neither  did  they,  nor  anyone  else,  for 
didn't  the  big  boys  in  the  east  continually  harp  about 
being  on  a  higher  plan,  a  basis  that  the  dear  public 
would  never  recede  from?  Didn't  every  big  man  with 
the  live  stock  industry  claim  that  the  prices  were 
going  to  stay  up ;  that  hogs  and  cattle  would  never 
go  down  to  where  they  were  before  the  war?  Hadn't 
hogs  been  up  sky  high;  weren't  cattle  bringing  big 
money  and  wouldn't  they  continue  to  do  so?  What 
reason  under  the  sun  was  there  that  they  should  go 
down?  Why,  the  public,  again  the  dear  public, 
wouldn't  stand  for  it.  We  believed  that  dope  when 
it  was  peddled;  so  did  I  and  so  did  everybody  else, 
including  the  examiners.    Why  not? 

What  came  next?  Somebody  told  you  after  it  was 
all  over  with,  that  you  should  have  known  better 
when  that  same  bird  didn't  know  anymore  about  it 
than  you  did.  You  bet,  the  slump  was  here;  the 
boys  were  falling  by  the  way-side;  things  were 
getting  tougher  and  tougher. 

The  boys  who  some  years  previous  had  signed 
their  names  to  this  or  that  promotion  note  were 
pretty  sick  of  the  bell;  for  hadn't  they  heard  that 
the  Company  in  which  their  wonderful  investment 
had  been  made  was  going  to  pot,  and  would  they 
under  such  circumstances  want  to  pay  their  note? 
They  would  not.  Ofcourse,  and  promptly  proceeded 
to  interview  an  attorney  as  to  their  standing  in  a 

146 


Court  of  Equity.  The  advice  handed  them  by  their 
attorney  was  in  their  favor  naturally.  Here  I  sat 
with  a  flock  of  them  still  unpaid,  being  compelled 
to  fight  not  only  the  maker  of  the  note,  but  his 
attorney  as  well.  I  couldn't  go  into  Court  with  clean 
skirts,  I  was  told,  for  hadn't  the  stock-salesman 
been  the  Cashier  of  the  Bank,  in  many  cases,  which 
now  sought  to  sue  on  the  notes  ?  That  was  the  truth 
and  there  was  no  getting  around  it.  Try  and  effect 
the  best  compromise  settlement  I  could,  was  the 
only  thing  to  be  done;  again  charging  some  unpaid 
balance  to  the  Undivided  Profits  Account,  which 
at  that  time  had  dwindled  down  to  where  it  could 
no  longer  stand  a  reasonable  charge. 

Many  and  many  a  night  I  would  retire,  lay  there 
and  think  about  this  bird  and  that,  worry  along 
for  him  and  wonder  what  the  result  was  going  to 
be,  trying  to  devise  ways  and  means  to  combat  the 
situation,  knowing  all  the  time  that  the  law  was 
against  me  to  start  with. 

I  had  a  personal  interview  with  many  a  borrower, 
made  a  compromise  settlement  with  him,  and  then 
have  him  turn  around  later  and  take  the  position 
that  he  did  not  legimately  owe  the  debt,  himself 
being  involved  to  the  extent  where  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  do  anything,  in  some  cases  taking  bank- 
ruptcy. 

There  I  sat  with  my  compromise  settlement,  one 
that  I  thought  at  the  time  it  was  made  would  work 
out,  and  here  she  was,  refusing  to  work  at  all. 

147 


Probably  a  little  cash  and  more  paper,  trying  to  co- 
operate with  him  so  that  at  a  later  date  he  could 
pay  us. 

The  general  public  of  course  knew  not  su  much 
about  these  cases,  but  from  time  to  time  stories 
would  come  to  me  about  this  or  that;  stories  that 
were  absolutely  untrue,  in  some  cases  being  about 
matters  in  which  we  had  no  interest  whatever.  Yet 
Gossip  was  rife,  and  folks  talked  about  many  things 
we  had  no  interest  in  at  all,  making  the  going 
harder  and  harder.  Many  a  time  I  thought  how 
far  off  they  were  in  their  contentions. 

It  is  a  positive  fact  that  many  things  did  exist 
that  were  adverse  to  us.  The  Public  didn't  talk 
about  that  tho' ;  they  talked  about  many  things  in 
which  we  had  no  financial  interest. 

It  was  during  this  time  I  got  into  the  liquor 
business,  at  least  so  I  shall  name  it.  You  see  the 
Country  was  DRY.  Primarily  I  was  a  banker,  a 
Cashier,  but  as  you  know  bankers  often  get  into 
a  line  of  business  they  least  expect.  Some  borrower 
puts  you  into  it,  and  you  try  to  work  it  out  to  save 
your  interest,  and  in  that  manner  get  a  varied  ex- 
perience. This  business  was  brought  about  by  our 
loaning  some  funds  to  two  men  who  were  going  to 
make  a  fortune  out  of  the  business;  men  who  had 
ten  grand  on  deposit  with  us  sometime  prior  to  that ; 
men  who  had  made  almost  100  grand  prior  to  the 
taking  effect  of  the  Volstead  Act.  They  had  been 
good   depositors   of   our   bank;    why    shouldn't    we 

148 


extend  them  a  reasonable  line  of  credit?  Hadn't 
they  shown  ability  to  make  money  for  themselves? 
And  wasn't  it  safe  to  assume  they  could  do  so  again  ? 
The  loan  was  made.  They  started  to  work.  Were 
incorporated  under  the  Illinois  Law.  Among  their 
assets  was  much  machinery,  bottles,  and  bottle 
washers,  cappers  and  hundreds  of  other  articles 
including  a  U.  S.  Government  Permit,  calling  for 
1000  gallons  of  alcohol  and  3000  gallons  of  wine  of 
every  period.  It  was  ofcourse  understood  that  the 
alcoholic  end  of  it  was  to  be  used  in  the  manu- 
facturing of  soft  drinks,  ladies  cosmetics,  etc,  when 
as  a  matter  of  fact  I  later  discovered  that  the  men 
were  diverting  it  to  illegal  channels. 

They  commenced  business,  advised  me  from  time 
to  time  that  they  were  doing  well.  In  a  short  time 
however,  they  did  not  seem  to  give  their  correspond- 
ence the  attention  it  should  have  received,  and 
becoming  a  little  alarmed  about  the  line  I  decided 
to  go  and  make  an  investigation ;  you  see,  they  were 
not  replying  to  my  letters;  they  didn't  pay  much 
attention  to  me  it  seemed.  I  made  an  investigation 
of  the  plant  (Investigations  were  becoming  the 
order  of  the  day  already  in  1923,  and  have  shown 
much  improvement  since;  note  Washington  reports) 
and  found  an  air  of  no  business  around  the  place; 
it  didn't  look  prosperous  to  me.  I  talked  the  matter 
over  with  two  of  the  men  {the  company  had  three 
stockholders  only)  and  insisted  they  give  us  a  chattel 
mortgage  on  the  contents  of  a  building  they  were 

149 


renting,  which  covered  the  machinery  and  equip- 
ment together  with  a  liberal  supply  of  wines. 

A  new  note  and  chattel  was  made  up  at  the  time. 
I  returned  to  the  bank  feeling  I  would  get  the  loan 
paid  at  maturity. 

Maturity  came  but  no  payment.  Again  I  made  the 
trip,  talked  the  matter  over  with  the  boys  and  they 
decided  to  lock  up  the  joint  and  go  out  of  business. 
In  the  event  they  would  do  that  I  advised  them  I 
would  have  to  foreclosure  under  the  Chattel  Mort- 
gage, which  I  proceeded  to  do. 

The  Sheriff  sold  the  property  at  Sheriff  sale.  I 
bid  it  in  for  our  own  protection  and  there  I  was 
with  a  lot  of  liquor,  and  didn't  know  what  to  do  with 
it.  I  knew  a  little  of  something  about  many  things 
in  a  general  way,  but  there  was  a  business  I  didn't 
know  a  thing  about. 

I  hadn't  been  patronizing  the  hip-flask  specialists, 
you  see.  I  had  considerable  respect  for  the  Prohi- 
bition officers  of  this  dear  old  United  States  prior 
to  that  time,  but  since  then  —  well,  I'd  rather  say 
no  more  about  it. 

There  I  was  with  1728  gallons  of  sherry  wine, 
257  cases  of  claret  (don't  some  of  you  fellows  envy 
me)  a  lot  of  machinery  and  equipment,  and  what 
was  I  going  to  do  with  it? 

I  made  a  thoro  inspection  of  the  premises,  dis- 
covered that  the  Government  permit  had  expired 
and  would  have  to  be  renewed.  There  I  was  with 
the    assets  of  the    Company  my    property,    which 

150 


assets  I  left  in  the  custody  of  the  Village  Marshal, 
in  the  same  building. 

The  Company  had  $30,000.00  of  Capital  Stock 
outstanding,  and  where  was  the  stock?  The  Capital 
Stock  I  mean.  Upon  an  investigation  I  ascertained 
that  it  was  held  at  two  places  for  loans  negotiated 
by  two  of  the  individual  owners  of  the  Company. 
Ofcourse  it  didn't  make  any  difference  to  me  where 
it  was.  I  wasn't  interested  in  that,  I  had  good  title 
to  the  merchandise  and  had  possession  of  it,  so  why 
should  I  worry  about  such  a  little  thing  as  the 
Capital  Stock? 

Immediately  I  got  busy  trying  to  interest  some- 
one in  the  business,  necessitating  many  a  trip  to 
the  Windy  City  interviewing  prospects.  I  finally 
landed  two  men  and  sold  them  the  business  for 
twenty  grand,  after  they  had  made  an  inspection 
of  the  premises.  I  told  them  of  the  expiration  of  the 
permit,  but  assured  them  a  renewal  would  be  ob- 
tained for  the  company,  and  agreed  to  furnish  such 
renewal  when  delivering  them  title,  upon  final  pay- 
ment. 

Now  then,  I  was  a  banker  and  didn't  want  to  be 
known  as  being  in  a  liquor  business.  I  could  get  the 
permit  personally,  but  felt  getting  a  renewal  in 
behalf  of  the  Corporation  to  whom  it  was  originally 
issued,  would  be  better.  Again  I  made  another  trip 
to  the  Windy  City  and  returning  felt  it  could  be 
handled  according  to  my  plan. 

Now  then  in  order  to  get  the    permit    issued    in 

151 


behalf  of  the  corporation  I  must  of  necessity  have 
control  of  the  Capital  Stock,  so  then  the  next  job 
was  to  get  hold  of  those  stock  certificates  so  I  could 
control  the  entire  situation.  One  of  the  three  stock- 
holders of  the  company  insisted  upon  a  big  price 
for  his  holdings,  which  I  refused  to  pay,  advising 
him  that  I  would  get  the  permit  in  my  own  name, 
personally,  before  I  would  stand  for  being  bled  out 
of  a  lot  of  money.  It  was  a  fact  that  I  had  made 
an  excellent  sale  of  the  property  for  considerable 
more  than  twice  our  interest  in  it,  and  could  well 
afford  to  buy  this  stock  in,  provided  I  could  buy  it 
very  cheap.  After  dickering  with  him  a  few  days 
I  bought  it,  I  believe,  for  $500.00  for  his  third  in- 
terest. Promptly,  I  proceeded  to  a  banker  who  had 
made  a  personal  loan  to  one  of  the  owners,  told  him 
the  situation ;  that  his  stock  certificate  wasn't  worth 
the  paper  it  was  written  on  and  that  I  had  owner- 
ship of  all  the  assets,  etc.  He  turned  blue  in  the 
face  (you  see,  he  hadn't  heard  anything  about  that 
Sheriff's  sale.  His  was  an  Outside  Loan)  and  asked 
me  just  what  I  intended  to  do  with  the  stock 
if  he  did  sell  it  to  me.  I  advised  him  I  was  willing 
to  pay  a  small  price  for  it,  just  to  get  matters  ami- 
cably settled  and  offered  him  S250.00  for  what  he 
had  in  his  collateral  file,  (which  represented  one- 
third  of  the  Capital  Stock  of  the  Company) .  Now 
his  face  turned  red  and  he  got  pretty  hot,  and  yet 
he  was  glad  to  get  the  money,  for  after  the  word 
picture  I  had  painted  for  him,  I  believe  I  could  have 

152 


bought  it  for  |2.50,  but  since  I  made  a  very  good 
sale,  I  wanted  to  be  somewhere  near  fair  with  him 
and  was.  That  gave  me  ownership  of  two  thirds 
of  the  Capital  Stock,  you  see  I  was  getting  control 
pretty  fast. 

I  returned  home  and  telephoned  another  banker, 
explained  the  situation  to  him,  and  offered  him  a 
like  amount  for  his.  He  only  stuttered,  for  I 
couldn't  see  the  expression  on  his  face.  Believe  me, 
he  was  glad  to  accept.  Said  he  would  mail  the  stock 
certificates  in  the  morning,  which  he  did,  for  the 
next  day  they  arrived  and  our  remittance  for  the 
agreed  amount  was  promptly  sent  him. 

All  there  remained  for  me  to  do  was  to  get  the 
permit  renewed  and  deliver  the  company  to  the 
purchaser.  Again  I  went  to  the  Windy  City  re- 
presenting the  whole  company,  for  didn't  I  have  the 
assets  with  good  title,  and  didn't  I  have  each  and 
every  outstanding  certificate  of  stock? 

The  new  permit  was  obtained,  but  not  without 
spending  the  price  of  a  good  many  suits  of  clothes. 
I  never  did  find  out  who  wore  out  the  clothes,  I  was 
not  interested  in  that.  My  only  interest  was  to  get 
the  deal   closed  and  off  our  hands. 

About  that  time  the  Examiner  called  again.  It 
took  me  almost  an  hour  to  explain  this  situation  to 
them  and  they  wondered  whether  they  should  not 
make  an  inspection  of  the  property  that  evening. 
I  believe  yet,  it  wasn't  the  inspection  they  were  in- 
terested in. 

153 


I  was  asked  whether  I  had  any  of  the  merchandise 
around  the  place,  to  which  I  replied  "I  have  not'" 
that  I  was  removing  nothing  from  the  premises, 
for  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  situation  seemed  so 
delicate  to  me  that  I  was  half  afraid  of  it ;  for  didn't 
the  prohibition  forces  have  a  thoro  inventory  of  this 
merchandise?  Wasn't  I  afraid  to  remove  even  a 
quart  for  fear  it  would  show  up  as  missing  when 
another  inspection  was  made?  Yes  boys,  I  said  in- 
spection. You  know  sometimes  an  inspection  is 
just  that  and  sometimes  it's  something  else  again. 
When  any  shortage  appeared  it  was  'leakage'  if  you 
know  what  leakage  meant.  The  Sherry  was  in  first 
class  barrels;  had  been  in  there  I  supposed,  for  a 
long  time  and  I  wondered  whether  barrels  leak  when 
in  that  shape?  Anyway  the  examiner  wished  me 
luck  with  the  deal  and  the  contents  of  the  plant 
remained  intact. 

For  some  reason,  to  this  day  unexplained,  the 
new  purchasers  did  not  see  fit  to  come  thru  with  the 
deal. 

He  had  given  me  a  check  of  $500.00  postdated 
two  weeks,  stating  at  the  time  he  gave  me  the  check 
that  he  thought  it  would  take  about  that  long  to 
get  the  new  Permit  thru,  which  was  entirely  agree- 
able to  me. 

Since  I  used  that  amount  to  pay  in  the  form  of  a 
commission  to  another  party  who  was  assisting  me 
in  the  sale  of  the  property,  I  felt  that  the  $500.00 
should  be  retained,  as  a  forfeit,  as  it  were,  and  so 

154 


advised  the  maker,  which  seemed  agreeable  to  him. 

The  check  was  cashed  on  the  proper  date,  and 
some  five  days  later  was  returned  with  the  notation 
"Payment  Stopped",  and  was  charged  back  to  our 
account  by  our  Chicago  Correspondent.  Right  then 
and  there  I  should  have  refused  to  allow  the  charge 
to  stand  against  the  account,  for  it  seemed,  to  me, 
dilatory  on  the  part  of  our  correspondent  to  accept 
the  return  of  the  check  and  charge  it  to  our  account 
5  days  after  they  had  received  the  check  from  us. 
Without  question,  the  day  the  check  was  received 
by  them  it  was  cleared  thru  the  Clearing  House, 
and  I  sincerely  believe  paid  by  the  drawee  bank,  who 
some  days  later  no  doubt  discovered  the  stop-pay 
order  against  the  particular  check,  took  a  chance  on 
sending  it  back,  and  got  away  with  it  with  our  cor- 
respondent. (You  bet,  some  of  them  advertise  serv- 
ice too,  and  sometimes  that's  what  you  get) .  Rather 
than  take  exception  to  the  charge  however,  and 
probably  cause  them  a  little  embarrassment,  I  al- 
lowed the  back-charge  to  stand,  in  the  hope  I  could 
collect  from  the  maker  of  the  check,  knowing  him  to 
be  good  for  the  amount. 

The  check  was  ordered  handed  to  the  attorney 
for  our  correspondent  bank — for  some  reason,  yet 
unexplained  he  could  not  get  service  on  the  maker 
of  the  check,  various  bailiffs  advising  of  their  in- 
ability to  locate  the  maker.  I  knew  the  maker 
personally,  knew  where  his  manufacturing  plant 
was  and  had  his  home  address  as  well,  and  here 

155 


reports  came  in  from  time  to  time  that  the  Bailiffs 
could  not  get  service.  I  wondered  whether  they 
were  trying.  I  concluded  the  best  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  take  the  case  away  from  the  attorney  han- 
dling the  matter  and  turn  it  over  to  a  lawyer  that  I 
could  depend  on.  I  did.  Service  was  obtained  on 
the  maker  of  the  check.  The  case  was  put  up  for 
trial.  My  allegations  were  all  denied,  later  par- 
tially admitted  and  still  later  entirely  admitted,  but 
an  answer  filed  by  him  that  the  deal  had  been  mis- 
represented, etc.  Why,  I  hadn't  any  idea  as  to  the 
contents  of  the  barrels,  bottles,  etc.,  and  not  being 
a  judge  of  wine  could  not  qualify  as  to  the  quality 
of  the  merchandise,  but  yet  here  was  his  defense 
to  meet.  After  continuances  a  plenty,  the  case  was 
called  for  trial.     I  attended,  as  a  witness  of  course. 

Five  minutes  prior  to  the  calling  of  the  case,  I 
was  called  from  the  Court  Chamber  by  a  man,  whom 
I  had  become  acquainted  with  some  years  previous, 
and  advised  that  I  was  up  against  a  bad  gang; 
that  they  wouldn't  stop  at  anything ;  that  they  were 
a  mean  job;  that  they  would  get  me  if  I  insisted 
upon  going  ahead  with  the  case. 

For  the  moment  only  I  had  a  bit  of  fear  and  upon 
looking  my  friend  in  the  eye  I  countered  with  the 
words:  "Listen,  old  man,  if  you  think  you  can  in- 
timidate me,  you're  working  on  the  wrong  bird.  Get 
me  right,  when  I  came  here  I  didn't  care  much 
whether  I  won  this  case  or  not,  but  since  you  birds 
think  it  possible  to  scare  me  out,  I'll  show  fight, 

156 


and  if  your  gang  wants  to  go  out  and  get  me,  well 
and  good*\     The  case  was  called  for  trial. 

I've  hear  liars,  prevaricators  and  anything  else 
you  have  a  mind  to  call  them,  testify,  but  that  case 
capped  the  climax.  Some  folks  have  a  wonderful 
imagination  and  can  lie  faster  than  the  average 
man  can  think.  I  got  the  Judgement,  and  upon  the 
conclusion  of  the  case,  was  offered  a  different  kind 
of  a  case — and  not  a  book-case  either. 

Yes  siree,  when  you  have  to  go  out  and  collect 
them  like  that,  you've  got  a  job  on  your  hands.  I 
was  beginning  to  feel  that  Heinz  with  his  57  vari- 
eties had  nothing  on  me. 


157 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Again  I  had  to  get  busy  and  find  another  buyer, 
and  again  I  went  to  the  Windy  City  many  times,  and 
finally  dealt  with  a  young  fellow  and  some  of  his 
crew,  making  the  new  sale  upon  a  basis  of  twelve 
grand.  The  property  was  examined,  the  deal  looked 
good  to  him  and  we  closed.  Payment  was  made  in 
Cash.     I  went  home,  happy  it  was  all  over. 

Two  days  later  the  new  purchaser  walked  in, 
smiled  graciously  and  asked  to  see  me  in  the  back 
room,  so  to  the  back  room  we  retired.  "Schmitty," 
he  said,  "you  look  like  a  square  shooter  to  me,  but 
you  sure  gave  me  a  'ell  of  a  trimming." 

"What  do  you  mean,"  I  asked. 

"Why,"  said  he,  "half  that  stuff  is  diluted  and  I 
don't  believe  you'd  stick  me  with  anything  like  that 
would  you?" 

I  told  him  I  knew  nothing  of  that  part  of  it,  that 
I  hadn't  punched  in  the  bungs,  and  didn't  know  but 
the  barrels  were  full  of  what  they  were  supposed 
to  be.  I  told  him  I  would  accompany  him  to  the 
plant  tho'  and  if  he  was  correct  I  would  be  glad 
to  be  right  with  him  as  man  to  man. 

There  I  was  again.  Thought  I'd  made  a  mighty 
sweet  deal  and  here  he  was  kicking  back  on  me.  I 
thought  it  would  never  end. 


So  to  the  plant  we  went,  and  sure  enough  his 
contention  was  correct.  I  did  taste  the  contents  of 
three  or  four  bad  barrels  and  it  was  not  SO  good. 
It  seemed  he  had  a  professional  taster  with  him  and 
upon  his  judgement  we  relied  to  a  certain  extent, 
so  after  considerable  sparring  around,  I  returned 
three  grand  to  him  to  square  the  matter  and  he 
kept  the  business.  The  condition  of  the  barrels 
showed  they  had  not  been  tampered  with,  so  I  knew 
and  so  did  he,  that  the  diluting  had  been  done  long 
before  I  had  gotten  title,  so  the  merchandise  wasn't 
as  good  as  anticipated.  However,  I  was  glad  to 
make  the  refund;  glad  to  get  away  from  all  of  it, 
so  my  energy  might  be  confined  to  other  channels; 
channels  that  needed  energy  just  as  much.  Hadn't 
I  come  out  whole  on  the  investment,  and  wasn't  I 
glad  to  be  able  to  do  that?    You  bet  I  was. 

It  was  while  carrying  on  those  negotiations  that 
I  was  compelled  to  put  up  a  bond  of  ten  grand  with 
a  Chicago  office,  in  connection  with  the  permit.  For 
some  reason  the  permit  was  issued  to  the  company, 
as  it  should  have  been,  but  the  bond  still  required 
some  minor  changes,  so  I  was  handed  the  bond  to 
have  the  necessary  change  made,  carrying  the  per- 
mit and  my  own  bond  around  in  my  brief  case, 
when  it  should  have  been  in  Chicago.  I  believe  I 
carried  it  some  three  weeks.  Had  I  been  so  inclined 
I  no  doubt  could  have  gotten  away  with  murder  in 
the  meantime,  perhaps  that  too,  I  don't  know.  In 
due  time  the  bond  was    returned    to    the    Chicago 

159 


office  and  everything  was  in  fine  shape,  and  the 
banking  business  went  merrily  on.  Oh!  yes,  you 
mothers,  do  encourage  your  son  to  be  a  banker,  but 
don't  do  it  unless  you  know  he  will  meet  with  more 
or  less  GRIEF. 

While  finding  a  buyer  for  the  above  I  was  served 
the  only  purely  Italian  dinner  it  was  ever  my  pleas- 
ure to  partake  of.  The  eats  were  Italian ;  the  water 
imported!  the  coffee  likewise  (thick  like  sorghum) 
and  the  water  also.  Everything  was  imported,  in- 
cluding the  dishes.  I  hobnobbed  so  much  with  them 
that  I  began  feeling  like  a  dago  myself. 

During  the  last  examination  above  referred  to 
I  was  compelled  to  put  up  with  the  boys  at  a  time 
when  business  was  so  rushing  that  you  hardly  had 
time  to  think;  everyone  wanted  to  see  you  about 
something;  talk  to  you  about  something  else  again, 
and  at  the  same  time  I  had  to  give  the  examiners 
a  little  time  also.  In  desperation  I  finally  turned 
to  Fuller  with  the  words: 

"You  fellows  sure  picked  a  'ell  of  a  fine  time  to 
come  out  and  put  on  your  party,"  to  which  he  re- 
plied that  they  had  to  keep  going  and  might  as  well 
be  examining  this  bank  as  any  other. 

I  couldn't  see  it  quite  that  way,  for  weren't  there 
many  smaller  banks  in  towns  that  didn't  have  a  lot 
of  curb-stone  bankers,  who  where  not  rushed  to 
death  on  the  first  of  March  where  they  could  con- 
duct their  post-mortem?  He  couldn't  see  it  my  way, 
tho'  and  the  examination  went  right  along. 

160 


I  might  add  here  that  the  very  fact  of  the  exam- 
iners being  present  on  that  day  done  us  a  little 
harm.  Everyone  knew  the  bank  examiners  were  here 
and  everyone  wondered  why  they  were  here  at  such 
a  busy  time  and  some  of  the  customers  thought 
there  was  a  particular  reason  for  their  being  here. 
You  see,  they'd  heard  a  lot  about  the  bank  the  last 
two  years.  It  is  true  that  many  of  the  customers 
never  get  to  see  a  bank  examiner ;  they  have  a  cer- 
tain fear  of  them,  and  the  fact  of  them  showing 
up  at  that  particular  time  when  most  of  the  bank's 
customers  were  around  all  of  the  day,  could  not  by 
any  manner  or  means  be  construed  as  lending  con- 
fidence. 

Many  times  I  have  thought  since  that  with  the 
Gossip  rife  here  during  those  days,  that  such  par- 
ticular visit  of  the  examiners  served  to  feed  the 
flames.  It  shouldn't  have  but  it  did.  I  convinced 
the  boys,  as  I  did  every  prior  examination  that  this 
bank  was  showing  constant  improvement,  and  that 
we  were  in  better  shape  today  than  three  years 
prior,  for  wasn't  much  paper  held  by  us  in  1920 
paid  in  full,  and  wasn't  it  true  that  if  we  had  it 
today  it  wouldn't  be  worth  5  cents  on  the  dollar. 
They  agreed  with  me,  but  said  "You  still  have  a  lot 
of  it  to  get  out  of  the  way"  to  which  I  agreed  but 
was  willing  to  apply  my  energy  to  accomplish  that 
purpose. 

At  that  particular  examination  we  had  among 
the  assets,  certain  commercial  paper,  among  which 

161 


was  a  note  of  $10,000.00  signed  by  a  Packing  Com- 
pany, well  known  and  reputed  one  of  the  best  in 
America.  After  completing  the  examination  Mr. 
Fuller  stated  that  if  our  entire  note  case  were  made 
up  of  such  paper  as  this  we  would  be  one  of  the 
very  few  100  per  cent  banks  in  the  country.  That 
particular  note  matured  about  March  17th,  was 
sent  in  for  payment;  was  paid  in  full  with  interest, 
and  three  days  later  a  prominent  Chicago  paper 
carried  the  head  line  that  this  Company  had  been 
placed  in  Receivership  the  day  previous. 

I  thanked  fortune  that  our  note  was  paid  in  full, 
but  could  not  help  but  recall  the  positive  statement 
made  by  the  examiner  less  than  three  weeks  pre- 
vious. I  thanked  fortune  also  that  our  entire  note 
case  was  NOT  made  up  of  all  of  that  kind  of  paper. 

About  that  time  it  was  hard  to  say  whose  note 
was  good  and  whose  wasn't.  Today  a  firms  note 
might  be  A  number  one  but  tomorrow  would  be 
another  day  again.  When  maturity  came  and  you 
tried  to  collect  you'd  find  out  the  borrower  didn't 
have  anything  in  his  own  name,  not  even  the  head- 
ache he  was  complaining  of. 

About  the  only  fellow's  note  that  still  could  be 
considered  good  was  the  street  car  conductors.  His 
name  was  Rob  Nickel.  After  he'd  make  about 
$700,000.00  he  gave  the  car  back  to  the  company, 
and  when  that  time  arrived  it  wasn't  necessary  for 
him  to  give  a  note  anymore.  He  was  honest  at  that, 
he  gave  the  car  back  to  the  company. 

162 


Our  local  Oil  promoter — I  musn't  overlook  him — 
nothing  seemed  to  bother  him  much  excepting  the 
law,  and  since  we  had  an  active  legislator,  intro- 
ducing bill  after  bill  (but  none  passing)  why  not 
take  the  matter  up  with  him  and  have  a  few  of  the 
wild  cat  laws  amended  or  stricked  from  the  statutes 
entirely  ? 

Yes  sir,  he  was  an  artist,  could  paint  a  wonder- 
ful picture  for  you  (he  didn't  paint  in  oil  though), 
could  make  you  rich  overnight  with  his  wells  and 
gushers.  Yes  sir,  oil — oil — and  oil.  Not  cod  liver 
oil  though,  that  was  too  fishy  for  him  to  handle.  He 
confined  himself  to  real  oil — gasoline  and  kerosene. 
The  President  of  the  company  he  was  selling  stock 
in  was  an  ex-saloon  keeper  named  Philip  McCann. 
The  Secretary  was  a  former  garbage  collector 
named  M.  T.  McCann. 

He  was  a  great  believer  in  bananas,  ate  plenty 
of  them  to  keep  his  avoidupois  up,  but  he'd  have 
nothing  to  do  with  banana  oil. 

He  came  in  one  day  and  told  me  some  of  the 
parties  to  whom  he  had  sold  stock  in  an  oil  well  in 
South  Dakota.  I  was  a  bit  surprised  for  I  didn't 
think  nor  know  that  South  Dakota  had  anything  in 
the  line  of  oil,  except  possibly  crotan.  A  mattress 
maker  at  Hot  Springs  owned  $10,000.00  worth  of 
the  stock.  A  cigar  maker  by  the  name  of  Butt 
owned  some,  and  Butt's  brother-in-law,  N.  O.  Ash, 
also  owned  stock  in  the  company,  and  would  I  be 
interested  in  taking  on  a  few  shares? 

163 


No  sir,  that's  one  damfool  thing  I  never  did  do 
in  my  whole  life. 

He  didn't  sell  a  great  deal.  — 

That  spring  I  had  occassion  to  call  on  a  borrower 
and  upon  arriving  at  his  office  he  was  more  or  less 
under  the  influence  of  something,  probably  alco- 
holic. He  offered  me  a  drink  of  Gin,  but  having 
an  aversion  for  it,  I  refused.  He  said  he  didn't  like 
it  either  but  was  drinking  it,  because  it  was  good 
for  his  wife's  kidneys.  That  fellow  paid  his  note 
that  day.  I  honestly  believe  if  it  hadn't  been  for 
the  Gin  he  might  have  thought  otherwise.  It  is 
true  that  everything  contained  on  this  old  Universe 
of  ours  serves  some  good  purpose. 

It  was  about  that  time  I  attended  a  meeting  at 
Dubuque,  a  meeting  that  had  to  do  with  the  ousting 
of  an  officer  of  a  Company  in  which  many  folks  had 
invested  their  money  (myself  included)  called  for 
the  purpose  of  devising  means  to  meet  a  situation 
that  might  be  tragical.  This  particular  officer  had 
not  been  re-elected — the  tin-can  story  applies — and 
thereupon  proceeded  to  GET  the  man  higher  up. 

Statements  were  made  at  that  meeting  by  the 
oustee  that  he  knew  of  the  condition  of  the  com- 
pany before  he'd  been  with  them  three  months; 
and  here  he  was  talking  to  his  friends  three  or  four 
years  later,  immediately  after  his  job  was  no-more, 
advising  what  MUST  be  done  under  the  circum- 
stances. The  boys  at  the  meeting  felt  that  the  mat- 
ters should  have  been  placed    before    them    years 

164 


previous  to  which  the  counter  statement  was  made 
that  a  number  of  years  had  been  required  to 
CATCH  his  man,  and  that  now  he  had  the  goods 
on  him,  and  all  that.  We  poor  stockholders  sat 
around,  many  wondering  what  is  was  all  about. 
After  being  advised  by  the  oustee  that  as  a  credit 
man  he  would  take  his  hat  off  to  nobody,  it  was 
agreed  by  all  present,  to  withdraw  from  the  Com- 
pany, and  allow  him  to  demonstrate  his  credit  abil- 
ity— leaving  him  choose  such  assets  of  the  company 
as  would  be  acceptable.  All  present  of  course,  as- 
sumed that  none  but  the  very  best  assets  of  the 
company  would  be  selected.  You've  heard  the  story 
about  the  fellow  who  was  given  a  tin-bill  and  sent 
out  among  the  chickens.  The  story  fellow  with  the 
tin-bill  did  a  good  job,  but  we  stockholders  made 
the  mistake  of  not  furnishing  the  tin.  We  just  fur- 
nished cash. 

As  I  recall  now,  it  was  that  same  spring  we  sued 
the  maker  of  a  note,  given  in  payment  of  a  life  in- 
surance premium,  which  note  had  been  previously 
discounted  by  ourselves. 

The  evidence  showed  us  to  be  an  innocent  pur- 
chased for  value,  what  I  assumed  about  the  only 
prerequisite,  for  the  note  stated  on  its  face  that  it 
had  been  given  for  life  insurance. 

The  maker  acknowledged  signing  it;  put  up  the 
defense  he  THOUGHT  he  was  signing  an  applica- 
tion only,  and  what  did  that  Jury  do  but  retire  and 
bring  in  a  verdict  in  favor  of  the  maker?    You  bet, 

165 


you  fellows  have  no  doubt  had  plenty  of  Jury  ex- 
perience also.  Give  me  the  hard-boiled  old  Judge 
every  time.  Prospects  of  Justice  before  a  Jury  are 
sometimes  NOT  so  good.  This  note  was  an  OUT- 
SIDE note.  And  again  I  want  to  say,  let  those 
OUTSIDE  notes  alone.  While  it's  true  that  most  of 
them  may  be  good  and  will  pay,  yet  the  prospects 
for  defense  are  apt  to  appear,  which  necessitates 
your  going  her  or  there  to  put  up  your  case,  in  the 
event  it  may  be  necessary  to  sue.  If  you  confine 
yourself  to  local  paper,  and  a  suit  develops,  it's 
easier  and  cheaper  and  carries  less  GRIEF. 

Summer  came  and  with  it  some  good  collections 
and  more  talk  of  the  Pianos,  bulls  and  lands.  Many 
a  conference  I  had  with  reference  to  all  three,  try- 
ing to  work  out  ways  and  means  to  help  all  of  them 
and  indirectly  to  help  ourselves.  If  the  Bulls  could 
have  played  the  Piano,  or  Pianos  fed  to  the  Bulls, 
either  one  might  have  been  a  success.  Additional 
feed  was  required  to  feed  the  bulls;  not  only  were 
the  heifers  bully  but  also  the  piano  business.  I  did 
not  see  my  way  clear  to  discount  much  additional 
paper,  trying  to  get  the  trade  paper  I  had  out  of  the 
way  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  in  justice  to  the 
salesmen  of  the  company  I  admit  he  used  good 
credit  ability  in  that  department  for  the  paper  was 
being  retired  regularly. 

I'll  never  forget  the  time  the  Secretary  of  the 
Company  came  down  one  morning,  a  rather  aged 
young  lady,  sometimes  referred  to  as  an  old  maid; 

166 


she  had  inherited  some  of  the  President's  qualifica- 
tions and  insisted  upon  my  doing  something  that 
morning,  which  I  positively  refused.  She  got  pretty 
owley,  whereupon  I  asked  her  to  get  out  and  she 
defiantly  told  me  I  wasn't  co-operating  with  the  best 
industry  Bellevue  had  and  many  such  things.  I 
asked  her  to  go  back  to  her  work,  but  she  persisted 
in  telling  me  many  things  along  the  same  line,  when 
I  lost  my  temper  and  told  her : 

"If  you  had  pants  on  I'd  come  out  in  the  lobby  and 
throw  you  out."  After  she  walked  out  the  boys 
asked  me  how  I  knew. 

It  was  that  summer  I  heard  the  story  of  the 
colored  lady  approaching  the  Teller's  window  of 
a  bank  with  the  words:  "Ah  want  to  deposit  dese 
two  ten  dollah  bills."  The  teller  looked  them  over 
and  returned  them  saying  "Why,  those  are  counter- 
feit, we  can't  give  you  credit  for  them."  "Land 
sakes  alive,"  she  echoed,  "Ah've  been  seduced."  And 
she  wasn't  a  Luxemburger  either. 

That  same  summer  the  banking  business  wasn't 
so  monotonous,  reminding  me  of  the  story  of  two 
colored  boys  meeting  on  the  street,  when  the  fol- 
lowing conversation  took  place: 

"Rastus,  wills  you  explain  to  mah  what  mono- 
tonous means?" 

"Why,  Sambo,  if  you  don't  knows  what  monot- 
onous means  Ah'll  tell  you.  When  youse  married 
tree  times  that's    terrible — when    you'se    married 

167 


twice  dat's  bigamy,  but  when  you'se  only  married 
once,  that's  monotonous." 

No  sir,  the  banking  business  wasn't  monotonous. 

It  was  my  privilege  that  summer  to  enjoy  a  long 
conversation  with  a  Palmist  and  Fortune  Teller, 
one  whom  I  had  picked  up  at  Cedar  Rapids.  He 
overheard  my  stating  to  the  Clerk  at  the  Hotel  of 
driving  to  Dubuque  that  evening  and  promptly 
asked  whether  he  might  accompany  me.  I  was  very 
glad,  of  course,  to  have  his  company,  to  help  break 
the  monotony  of  driving  alone. 

He  told  me  of  the  many,  many  foolish  questions 
propounded  to  him  nightly  in  his  work,  and  I  ad- 
vised that  he  had  nothing  on  me ;  that  most  every 
known  question  had  been  asked  me  by  customers 
and  friends. 

After  comparing  notes  we  agreed  that  some  of 
the  following  were  the  most  common : 

"When  and  whom  should  I  marry?" 

"Does  my  husband  love  anyone  else?" 

"Is  my  sweetheart  true  to  me?" 

"Will  I  win  my  lawsuit?" 

"How  soon  can  I  expect  to  make  a  change?" 

"Is  Digman  a  good  lawyer?" 

"What  should  I  do  to  get  well?" 

"Shall  I  dispose  of  my  property  or  wait  till  I 
die?" 

"For  what  do  you  think  I  am  best  adapted?" 

"Shall  I  make  a  change  in  business?" 

"How  do  you  develop  self-control?" 

168 


"When  shall  I  get  my  wish?" 

"Will  my  secret  ever  be  known?" 

He  stated  that  to  a  question  "ARE  YOU  IN 
TROUBLE?"  he  received  5000  inquiries,  and  why 
shouldn't  he?  Didn't  he  add  to  the  question  "Do 
you  find  with  all  your  natural  gifts  and  talents  you 
are  baffled,  discouraged  and  unsuccessful?  If  so, 
write  me,  and  I'll  tell  you  how  to  obtain  Success, 
Joy  and  Happiness?" 

The  average  country  banker  has  to  put  up  with 
many  questions  similar  to  the  preceding;  questions 
that  to  him  don't  mean  a  thing;  questions  that 
people  will  persist  in  asking;  questions  that  he  is 
expected  to  answer  intelligently,  when  all  the  time 
he  don't  know  one  thing  about  many  of  them,  but — 
doesn't  he  sit  there  and  listen  attentively,  and  after 
the  questioner  gets  thru  hasn't  any  more  idea  as  to 
how  he  should  answer  than  a  jackrabbit.  In  the 
event  tho'  he  doesn't  answer  promptly  the  customer 
thinks  he's  a  pretty  dumb  banker,  for  isn't  it  his 
impression  that  the  banker  is  there  for  every  pur- 
pose under  the  sun? 

Yes  sir,  isn't  the  banker  there  to  answer  all  the 
great  questions  of  life;  to  solve  them  quickly;  to 
turn  failure  to  success;  sorrow  to  joy;  foes  to 
friends,  and  assist  the  Great  Creator  in  holding  the 
Universe  in  Harmony?  You  bet  your  life,  that  is 
NOT  why  the  banker  is  on  the  job.     His  job  is  to 

169 


take  care  of  the  banks  finances  and  not  to  be  com- 
pelled to  sit  for  hours  and  hours,  listening  to  one 
line  of  bunk  after  another.  The  Great  Creator  of 
the  Universe  never  intended  that  the  banker  should 
be  of  that  kind  of  Service.  The  Great  Creator 
placed  man  on  this  earth  to  assist  other  men  in  mak- 
ing life  worth  living,  and  NOT  to  make  their  living 
for  them. 


170 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Just  because  the  banker  advertises: 

"TURN  OVER  A  NEW  LEAF 
AND  SAVE  SOME  MONEY" 

doesn't  mean  that  he  should  be  asked  to  turn  the 
page  for  you. 

Because  he  advertises : 


"THE  SPIRIT  OF  GIVING" 

"Down  thru  the  ages  has  come 
the  spirit  of  giving  which  crystal- 
lizes more  and  more  every  year. 
The  Spirit  of  Giving  is  the  very 
foundation  of  the  Policy  of  Serv- 
ice of  this  bank." 


Yes,  just  because  he  advertises  in  that  manner 
doesn't  mean  that  he  should  be  expected  to  give 
you  every  kind  of  service  under  the  sun,  without 
charge. 

171 


Here's  another  one  that  advertises: 

"AN  EASTER  MESSAGE" 

"While  happy  in  this  joyous 
Springtime  and  its  accompanying 
Easter  Holiday,  pause  for  a  mo- 
ment and  look  ahead  into  the 
future.  It  is  fitting  that  we  turn 
our  thought  to  the  betterment  of 
both  our  Spiritual  and  Material 
Welfare.  Prepare  now.  By  put- 
ing  aside  a  little  each  week." 

The  reader  reads  the  ad;  he  notes  Spiritual  and 
Material  Welfare.  He  goes  to  his  Minister  for  the 
former  and  where  does  he  go  for  the  latter?  To 
his  banker,  of  course.  Didn't  the  banker  advertise 
that  he  wanted  the  business? 


172 


"A  STEP  TOWARD  FINAN- 
CIAL INDEPENDENCE" 

"A  safe  investment  is  the  log- 
ical step  toward  Financial  inde- 
pendence, and  it  is  of  prime  im- 
portance that  the  investor  obtains 
securities  of  unquestionable 
strength. 

"Better  talk  it  over  with  us  to- 
day, it  may  mean  comfort  and 
happiness." 

When  the  banker  selected  that  one  for  the  paper, 
he  didn't  stop  to  think  of  his  own  comfort  and  hap- 
piness. The  customer  read  the  ad,  why  sure,  I'll 
go  down  to  the  banker  and  talk  it  over  with  him. 
Again  you'd  have  possibly  another  pest  on  your 
hands  for  a  few  hours. 


173 


"ARE  YOU  PREPARED  TO 
MEET  OPPORTUNITY?" 

"There  is  never  but  one  op- 
portunity of  a  kind,  and  in  al- 
most every  instance  it  demands 
some  sort  of  cash  investment. 
Tomorrow's  opportunity  lies  in 
just  how  we  use  today.  A  Sav- 
ings Account  started  today  may 
be  Tomorrow's  opportunity. 

"The  personal  service  of  this 
bank  extends  to  Savings  Ac- 
counts." 

Wasn't  it  the  bankers'  idea  to  advertise  for  Sav- 
ings Accounts,  when  he  chose  the  above  ad?  Sure 
it  was.    But  what  did  he  get? 

Bill  Smith  or  John  Jones  came  in  one  afternoon; 
told  Mr.  Banker  they  had  an  Opportunity  to  go  into 
the  Garage  business.  See?  an  Opportunity.  Hadn't 
the  banker  put  the  word  into  his  mouth  the  night 
before  when  the  paper  was  read?  And  John  would 
advise  he  had  this  Oportunity  and  had  $150.00  be- 
sides, and  would  the  banker  help  finance  the  busi- 
ness? That  he  could  buy  the  Garage  down  the 
street,  he  thought  for  about  $2000.00  and  that  he 
thought  he  could  make  a  lot  of  money  at  the  busi- 
ness; that  as  a  young  fellow  he  had  been  mechan- 
ically inclined    and    that    everybody    told    him    he 

174 


should  be  a  Garage  Mechanic?  Hadn't  he  been 
driving  an  old  Ford  around  these  hills,  a  1911 
model  and  that  he  was  the  only  fellow  that  could 
make  it  work,  and  that  that  very  fact  was  evidence 
that  he  would  be  a  good  mechanic  (something  like 
small  town  mechanics  generally  are)  ?  You  bet, 
he  had  an  Opportunity  to  buy  the  place  and  would 
like  to,  if  the  banker  helped  him  out.  Here  he  was 
with  one  hundred  and  fifty  bucks  and  a  lot  of  am- 
bition, trying  to  take  on  a  two  thousand  dollar  job, 
one  that  would  require  possibly  another  thousand 
in  order  to  carry  on  the  business,  such  as  purchas- 
ing a  little  additional  stock,  and  now  and  then  put 
one  of  his  accounts  on  the  books.  Oh!  Yes,  that 
expression  "On  the  books."  That  same  expression 
has  put  many  a  business  on  the  rocks.  But  John, 
put  in  on  the  books.  He  wasn't  getting  the  cash  to 
put  in  his  pocket  and  he  did  want  to  PUT,  so  he 
just  put  it  on  the  books. 

All  arrangements  were  talked  over;  the  entire 
afternoon  spent  with  John  and  the  Garage  busi- 
ness, when  in  disgust  you'd  tell  John  you  didn't  be- 
lieve there  was  much  money  in  the  business  and 
that  you  didn't  believe  you  wanted  to  help  finance 
it.  That  you  would  be  glad  to  do  so  if  he  could  put 
up  about  a  thousand  or  so,  but  that  with  less,  you 
could  not  see  your  way  clear  to  help  him.  Natural- 
ly, with  all  the  ambition  he  had,  he  was  a  little 
down-hearted  and  left  the  bank  feeling  pretty  bad. 

Then  he's  go  out  on  the  street  and  tell  his  first 

175 


friend  "That  fellow's  a  'ell  of  a  banker,  I  wouldn't 
do  business  with  him."  You  bet,  that's  what  you'd 
get  for  giving  that  bird  a  half  day  of  your  time, 
listening  to  his  tale  of  woe,  and  what-not.  All  the 
result  of  wanting  to  SERVICE  the  whole  com- 
munity. You  believe  me,  that  word  SERVICE  has 
been  overdone  and  the  quicker  the  banker  forgets 
there  is  such  a  word  the  better  off  he  will  be.  I'm 
writing  of  this  SERVICE  that  is  generally  given 
FREE.  You  never  got  anything  in  your  life  for 
nothing,  so  don't  give  it  either.  That's  a  good  one 
to  stick  to.  "YOU  NEVER  GOT  ANYTHING  IN 
YOUR  LIFE  FOR  NOTHING  SO  DON'T  GIVE  IT 
EITHER." 

The  previous  year  I  had  negotiated  an  exchange 
of  a  certain  note  with  another  banker,  for  one  of 
his,  the  primary  purpose  of  the  exchange  being  to 
hold  my  borrowers  line  below  the  legal  limit.  I 
was  unfortunate  in  that,  the  other  bank  closed,  and 
in  trying  to  complete  the  terms  of  the  arrangement 
made  with  the  bank,  the  Receiver  in  charge,  took 
the  position  that  he  could  not  recognize  any  such 
agreement,  justifiedly  so,  and  in  carrying  the  mat- 
ter to  an  Iowa  District  Court,  the  Court  held  that 
such  an  agreement  was  contrary  to  Public  Policy, 
and  would  not  allow  the  receiver  in  charge  of  that 
bank,  to  re-exchange.  It  was  unfortunate  for  me 
for  the  reason  that  the  note  we  were  holding  was 
of  questionable  value. 

Let  me  tell  you  bankers  right  now,  NEVER  ef- 

176 


feet  such  an  exchange,  irregardless  of  how  you  may 
feel  about  it  personally,  for  it  is  contrary  to  Public 
Policy  and  the  Receiver  of  any  closed  bank,  never 
will  be  allowed  to  carry  out  the  terms  of  an  agree- 
ment made  along  those  lines. 

The  result  of  that  case,  was  an  increased  expense 
account;  a  lot  of  grief  and  time  spent,  all  of  which 
could  have  been  avoided  but  for  my  willingness  to 
help  the  borrower  out. 

Yes  sir,  as  I  said  previously,  get  over  this  thing 
of  being  a  good  Samaritan.  Be  a  hard  boiled  banker 
and  your  Undivided  Profit  Account  will  reflect  the 
position  you  take ;  a  position  that  not  only  the  Bank- 
ing Department  but  the  public  will  give  you  much 
credit  for.  Aren't  you  better  off  with  half  your 
present  deposits,  and  your  note  case  sound,  than 
a  large  amount  of  deposits,  necessitating  the  taking 
on  of  more  paper,  paper  that  you  would  not  think 
of  accepting  if  your  deposits  were  smaller? 

Much  of  this  condition  is  due  to  Competition; 
bankers  fighting  one  another  to  get  business,  with 
the  result  that  many  times  they  overreach,  and  drop 
into  pit-falls. 

It's  true  that  the  banking  business  of  the  entire 
agricultural  section  has  been  overdone.  Charters 
have  been  granted  promiscuously;  banks  have 
popped  up  in  hamlets  that  never  should  have  had 
one;  making  the  going  just  that  much  harder  for 
the  other  banks,  increasing  competition  to  a  point 
where  Safety  was  at  stake. 

177 


For  years  everybody  was  drunk  with  prosperity. 
When  the  day  of  reckoning  came,  however,  charters 
were  not  so  issued;  the  banking  business  being 
placed  on  a  better  basis,  as  a  result.  I'd  venture  to 
say  that  the  banking  business  is  on  a  sounder  basis 
at  this  date  than  anytime  since  1917,  and  while 
Confidence  has  not  been  entirely  restored,  yet  there 
appears  a  return  to  normal  at  this  writing. 

An  important  business  meeting  of  some  of  the 
stockholders  of  a  company  organized  some  years 
ago  was  held  at  Dubuque,  Decoration  Day  Eve. 
The  wife,  a  local  merchant  and  I  made  the  trip.  The 
meeting  was  not  much  of  a  success,  altho  I  made  a 
collection  on  a  small  note  that  night.  I  was  glad 
to  get  the  money ;  bought  a  good  lunch  for  the  three 
of  us  and  started  for  Bellevue  about  11:30  that 
night. 

Upon  coming  out  of  the  timber  about  5  or  6  miles 
south  of  Dubuque  we  could  see  the  sky  to  the  south 
well  lighted  and  assumed  someone's  barn  in  the 
distance  was  on  fire.  I  drove  faster  still,  trying  to 
get  to  the  fire  as  quickly  as  possible.  Drive  as  I 
would  we  did  not  seem  to  get  much  closer  until  we 
arrived  within  three  miles  of  Bellevue  when  I  re- 
alized the  fire  must  be  in  our  own  town.  Naturally 
I  opened  her  wide  open.  Coming  down  Pat  Dunn 
hill  I  realized  the  fire  must  be  of  considerable  pro- 
portions and  had  an  intuition  it  was  the  Piano  Fac- 
tory. Sure  enough  it  was.  It  lighted  the  sky  for 
miles  and  miles  around.     I  drove  up  to  the  plant, 

178 


and  half  the  population  of  our  little  city  was  there. 
I  arrived  about  12:30;  everyone  was  excited;  people 
were  wild ;  some  had  imbibed  more  liquor  than  they 
should  have  (I  don't  know  where  they  got  it). 
Among  the  crowd  I  overheard: 

"I'll  bet  this  will  cost  the  State  Bank  a  lot  of 
Money" ; 

"I  wouldn't  be  surprised  if  this  puts  the  State 
Bank  out  of  business"; 

"See  how  the  directors  of  the  State  Bank  are 
working  to  save  what  they  can,  those  birds  wouldn't 
be  in  there  working  like  that  if  it  didn't  mean  a 
lot  to  them" ; 

"Poor  Schmitty'll  have  a  'ell  of  a  time  now"; 
until  I  got  so  dam  disgusted  with  everything  that 
I  went  home  to  bed,  for  little  did  the  dear  Public 
know  and  appreciate  that  the  plant  of  the  company 
was  insured  for  more  than  $300,000.00  and  that 
every  dollar  of  that  insurance  was  payable  to  the 
company  and  the  bank  jointly,  under  a  loss  payable 
clause  attached  to  each  and  every  policy  held  by  the 
company,  and  that  each  and  every  policy  so  held 
was  in  the  hands  of  our  bank. 

Even  Joe  Becken,  who  wrote  a  lot  of  insurance, 
said  that  the  time  they  get  thru  monkeying  with 
that  co-insurance  the  companies  won't  pay  any  of 
the  loss.  Dam  little  he  knew  about  insurance  or  he 
would  not  have  made  such  a  statement. 

Weren't  we  Trustees  of  the  bond  issue  and  didn't 
the  Deed  of  Trust  specifically  state  that  the  insur- 

179 


ance  covering  the  buildings  and  machinery  must  be 
held  at  all  times  by  the  Trustee  for  the  benefit  of  the 
bond-holders?  Of  course,  it  did,  and  didn't  this 
Cashier  think  it  good  business  on  our  part  to  have 
all  of  the  insurance  payable  to  us,  so  in  case  of  a 
fire  did  occur,  the  funds  would  be  paid  to  us,  and  we 
could  eliminate  any  paper  of  theirs  100  cents  on  the 
dollar  and  hand  the  overage  to  the  company? 

I  was  being  paid  to  look  after  these  interests,  and 
I  certainly  did  in  that  case.  Had  the  dear  public 
known  my  innermost  thoughts  when  I  retired  that 
night  of  the  fire,  they  would  have  rested  easy.  I 
was  never  glad  to  see  a  fire  in  my  life,  but  that  was 
one  that  didn't  worry  me  one  iota. 

The  very  first  morning  after  the  fire,  in  they 
started  coming,  this  person  and  that  wanting  their 
money.  We  tried  to  tell  them  that  every  dollar  of 
the  insurance  would  come  to  us  and  that  we  couldn't 
lose  a  dollar  on  the  line ;  that  we  were  perfectly  safe 
and  all  that.  They  took  it  with  a  grain  of  salt  tho' 
and  made  you  feel  like  you  might  be  a  dam  liar, 
when  all  the  time  you  were  telling  them  the  gospel 
truth.    We  paid  out  and  out. 

Some  of  the  employees  were  first  to  call,  and  got 
theirs.  You  bet,  the  strain  was  terrific;  one  that 
many  a  man  older  than  myself  would  not  have 
withstood.  Had  I  to  do  it  over  again  I  would  have 
locked  up  that  morning. 

We  knew  our  condition  better  than  the  public; 
knew  this  insurance  money  was  coming  to  us;  but 

180 


they  seemed  to  know  more  about  us  than  we  did 
ourselves.  All  sorts  of  stories  were  rampant,  until 
matters  came  to  a  point  that  you  couldn't  believe 
anyone  you  met.  Apparently  good,  honest,  indus- 
trious, hard-working  people  developed  into  liars 
overnight. 

A  man  came  in ;  looked  you  in  the  eye ;  you'd  tell 
him  about  being  protected;  that  we  were  getting 
100  cents  on  the  dollar  in  the  way  of  insurance 
whereupon  he  would  say  he  was  glad  of  it,  leaving 
the  bank,  satisfied  that  his  deposit  was  alright. 
About  one  hour  later  he  returned  with  the  state- 
ment that  he  decided  to  take  his  money,  which  of 
course,  was  paid  to  him. 

You  know,  some  dirty  low-livered  pup  had  talked 
to  him  in  the  meantime;  probably  filled  him  with 
a  lot  of  bunk,  until  the  poor  devil  didn't  know  what 
to  do.    Diarrhea  of  the  mouth  was  a  disease. 

Yes,  the  flames  were  being  fed  a  good  and  plenty. 
A  director  of  the  Refrigerating  plant  said  he  was 
glad  they  didn't  have  any  money  tied  up,  up  there. 
Some  inference  in  such  a  statement,  wasn't  there? 

Days  went  by.  Appraisers  of  the  Western  Ad- 
justment Company  appeared  on  the  scene  together 
with  an  adjuster  for  the  Insurance  Company  of 
North  America.  The  policies  had  been  written  in 
some  of  the  largest  and  best  companies  in  the 
United  States.  The  appraisers  went  to  work, 
reckoning  the  loss  on  account  of  the  fire,  made  a 

181 


thoro  check  up  of  the  books  of  the  Company  and 
made  a  settlement  of  §168,500.80. 

A  short  time  later  checks  were  received  by  us 
from  the  various  companies,  totaling  the  above 
figures.  The  checks  were  displayed  to  a  few  simply 
to  show  that  the  public  didn't  know  what  they  were 
talking  about,  and  that  the  officers  of  the  bank  who 
had  made  statements  previous  to  receiving  the 
checks  and  after  the  fire,  were  truthful  in  their 
statements.  Nothing  more  was  said  about  co- 
insurance. 

A  certain  amount  of  the  Insurance  received  was 
set  aside  in  conformity  with  the  Deed  of  Trust; 
was  held  by  us  to  replace  the  property,  for  so  the 
company  intended  doing.  The  balance  of  the  pro- 
ceeds was  used  to  eliminate  any  paper  that  did  not 
seem  100  per  cent  to  me,  cleaning  up  the  line  in 
excellent  shape,  and  handling  the  balance  as  a  credit 
to  the  company.  Henry  objected  to  me  taking  out 
so  much  paper,  but  I  advised  him  I  felt  the  com- 
pany would  have  no  use  for  the  funds  for  a  time  at 
least,  as  they  could  not  manufacture  for  a  time,  and 
for  that  reason  they  might  as  well  be  drawing  th« 
interest  on  this  trade  paper  as  we.  He  wanted  to 
know  whether  we  weren't  in  business  for  profit,  and 
I  told  him  we  were,  but  that  I  felt  it  was  more 
profitable  for  us  to  clean  up  now  than  to  take 
chances  on  their  ability  to  clean  up  later. 

Everyone  in  town  hated  to  see  the  fire,  so  did  I. 
Didn't  it  make  it  possible   for   me   to   clean  it  up, 

182 


and  hadn't  I  felt  in  case  of  a  fire  we  were  amply 
protected?  Didn't  I  write  practically  every  policy 
held  by  the  company,  and  didn't  I  see  that  we  got 
protection  under  the  terms  of  the  policy?  Of  course, 
I  did.  But  little  credit  did  I  get  for  it,  and  none  do 
I  expect  now. 

Plans  for  re-building  were  immediately  discussed. 
We  were  glad  to  co-operate,  but  insisted  that  the 
buildings  and  machinery  would  have  to  be  replaced 
in  as  good  a  condition  as  prior  to  the  fire,  and  that 
we  would  pay  the  bills,  in  connection  with  the  re- 
placement, with  the  funds  we  had  retained.  You 
see,  we  didn't  take  any  chances  on  a  slip-up.  We 
didn't  know  what  might  occur.  We  knew  creditors 
there  were  many.  We  knew  in  fairness  to  the  bond- 
holders that  the  property  should  be  so  replaced  and 
I  saw  that  it  was. 

It  is  a  fact  that  it  was  replaced  better  than  ever ; 
that  the  machinery  was  better  than  prior  to  the 
fire.  You  bet,  I  looked  out  for  the  interest  of  the 
bondholders.  But  you  know  about  how  much  cre- 
dit you  would  get  for  that.  Some  even  insinuated 
that  Schmitty  got  his,  "You  know,  he's  no  dam- 
fool,"  when  in  all  truthfulness  all  Schmitty  ever  got 
out  o  fit  was  a  'ell  of  a  lot  of  work ;  a  'ell  of  a  lot  of 
grief;  a  'ell  of  a  lot  of  criticism;  a  'ell  of  a  lot  of 
litigation,  about  which  more  will  be  said  in  suc- 
ceeding chapters. 

Oh!  yes,  again  that  old  saying  "Man's  inhumanity 
to  man,  makes    countless    thousands    mourn"    held 

183 


true.  Yet  in  the  face  of  it,  my,  I'm  going  to  call  it 
guts  now,  held  out.  Prior  to  this  I  have  referred 
to  my  nerve.  From  now  on  I'll  have  to  call  it  guts, 
for  circumstances  at  that  time  justifies  me  using 
that  expression.  Sometimes  known  as  intestinal 
fortitute. 

Yes,  sir,  my  guts  staid  with  me  and  many  times 
thought  nothing  would  suit  me  better  than  to  lick 
the  whole  crowd  of  them;  show  them  that  in  the 
face  of  adversity,  I  could  maintain  the  standing  of 
our  institution  in  the  community,  and  protect  repu- 
tations that  were  many  years  in  the  making. 

You  bet,  I  staid  with  the  ship,  as  old  Frank  used 
to  say,  against  advice  given  me  by  a  friend,  very- 
near  and  dear  to  me. 

I  made  up  my  mind  that  with  the  replacement  of 
the  Factory,  the  community,  an  otherwise  reason- 
able community  would  appreciate  my  efforts,  and 
again  our  business  might  improve,  but  Fate  held 
otherwise  for  me.  For  didn't  the  scandal  mongers 
continue  their  campaign  up  to  the  date  of  the  clos- 
ing of  our  bank?  Didn't  the  public  work  to  bring 
about  the  inevitable?  Weren't  they  afraid  the  bank 
would  have  to  close  up?  Weren't  they  under  that 
impression  for  the  last  5  years?  and  didn't  they 
now  get  just  what  they  wanted?  In  the  Eighteen 
years  of  my  banking  experience  it  has  always  been 
my  policy  to  fit  in  with  the  commuity  I  was  resid- 
ing in;  to  be  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  community; 
to  help  wherever  possible  in  its  uplift  and  since  the 

184 


public  aparently  desired  (they  must  have  or  they 
ivould  have  put  the  Jcibosh  on  such  talk)  the  clos- 
ing of  our  bank,  I  wanted  to  be  accommodating 
and  done  that  same  thing  this  February  14th,  1928. 
As  long  as  they  wanted  it  why  not  let  them  have  it? 
The  first  day  they  had  what  they  wanted  they 
began  to  feel  differently  about  it,  and  presumably 
then  didn't  want  it.  For  the  talk  started  the  other 
way;  sort  of  like  strewing  flowers  over  a  dead  man's 
grave.  I  never  could  see  much  sense  in  eulogizing 
a  dead  man.  Why  not  pass  your  bouquets  to  him 
while  he's  still  alive  and  can  appreciate  them? 


185 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Reconstruction  of  the  Piano  Factory  was  com- 
menced the  sumer  of  1924  immediately  after  the 
fire,  and  fall  saw  an  excellent  building  prepared  to 
have  machinery  placed,  and  ready  for  manufactur- 
ing. 

The  Powers  that  Be  at  the  Plant  felt  that  a  grand 
opening  would  be  in  order  and  arranged  for  it. 

The  Commercial  Club  was  called  in  (as  they 
always  were)  and  assisted  in  decorating  the  plant, 
placing  it  in  a  very  inviting  condition,  with  corn 
stalks  spread  all  around  the  place ;  beautiful  autumn 
leaves  strewn  here  and  there;  pumpkins,  jack-o- 
lanters  and  goblins  around  the  place;  with  a  few 
black  cats  mounted  here  and  there.  (Perhaps 
the  black-cats  had  something  to  do  with  its  future) . 
A  dance  Orchestra  was  hired;  folks  went  up  and 
made  merry;  everyone  had  a  good  time;  the  plant 
was  complete;  better  than  before  the  fire  and  the 
community  was  proud  of  it. 

Notables  in  the  Piano  industry  attended  the 
Grand  Opening,  and  assisted  in  showing  visitors, 
of  whom  more  than  1500  registered  thruout  the  day 
and  evening,  around  the  plant.  Eddie  Johnson 
proved  himself  a  very  hospitable    member    of    the 

186 


entertainment  committee.  Freddie  Kurtz,  in  his 
affable,  genial  manner  introduced  many  of  the  visi- 
tors to  the  ladies  of  the  town — a  crowd  of  Dubuque 
bankers  inspected  the  plant,  conceding  by  them,  to 
be  as  modern  and  up-to-date  a  factory  building  as 
they  had  ever  seen. 

The  Commercial  Club  boys  met  many  of  the  men 
of  the  industry;  congeniality  reigned  thruout;  an 
ocean  of  loveliness,  many  a  flash  of  friendliness,  a 
cheery  voice  here,  a  smile  there,  personal  touch ;  all 
imprinted  on  my  Memory.  Crowds  streaming  in 
and  out  of  the  plant  all  afternoon  and  evening; 
hundreds  of  younger  folks  stepping  to  the  strains 
of  Monk  Manderscheit'a  Jazz  Hounds. 

No  one  assumed  for  a  moment  that  the  black  cats 
were  present. 

Altho  every  here  and  there  was  that  slippery, 
vile,  infamous  devil  still  spreading  the  germ  of  dis- 
content. The  wee  hours  of  the  morning  came,  and 
folks  departed  for  their  homes,  everyone  happy, 
for  wasn't  the  future  of  Bellevue  assured,  and  the 
best  part  of  it  all  was  the  fact  that  each  and  every 
bill  incurred  in  replacing  the  plant,  was  PAID  IN 
FULL. 

Another  Fall  came  with  its  cheap  hog  prices; 
high  prices  of  feed  and  expensive  labor;  continued 
high  taxes.  The  farmer  suffered  again;  business 
in  town  was  not  very  good,  neither  was  it  at  the 
Factory. 

The    slogan    adopted    by    the    Commercial    Club 

187 


"BEAUTIFUL  BUSY  BELLEVUE"  was  not  being 
borne  out.  There  was  no  question  about  the  city 
being  beautiful,  some  question  tho  of  its  being  so 
very  busy.  Some  of  our  townsmen  transposed  it 
to  Beautiful,  Busted  Bellevue.  You  see,  some  of 
them  rather  enjoyed  being  Bolshevistic  and  refer- 
red to  this  man  or  that  as  being  busted.  For  didn't 
many  a  story  come  to  me  about  this  farmer  or  that 
merchant  being  broke  and  on  the  rocks,  didn't  some- 
one ask  me  about  a  certain  farmer  out  in  the  coun- 
try ;  ask  me  whether  it  was  true  that  he  was  busted? 
and  wasn't  it  an  absolute  fact  that  that  farmer 
owned  190  acres  of  real  estate,  unencumbered  and 
had  about  three  thousand  dollars  of  personal  pro- 
perty clear,  and  owing  mighty  little  money? 

And  wasn't  I  told  that  another  farmer  north  of 
town  was  about  thru,  and  wasn't  it  a  fact  in  that 
case  that  he  owned  more  than  400  acres  clear,  with 
a  lot  of  personal  property  and  owing  just  $2200.00, 
and  yet  the  dear  public  who  seemed  to  posses  all  the 
information  in  the  country,  more  than  any  man 
in  the  country  who  is  continually  in  touch  with  such 
matters,  contend  that  they  know  everything  about 
anything,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  are  very 
poorly  informed  on  most  things? 

At  the  time  of  my  first  taking  this  position  I  was 
told  that  certain  families  in  our  town  were  very 
rich,  etc.  etc.  It  didn't  take  the  public  long  to 
realize  they  were  all  wet  on  that,  and  I  am  making 

188 


this  statement  broadly  that  they  are  all  wet  on  most 
everything  they  talk  about. 

Oh!  no,  I'm  not  disgruntled  on  the  world  in  gen- 
eral, neither  am  I  sour.  I  hold  no  ill-will  toward 
anyone  and  am  at  peace  with  the  world,  more  so 
than  since  1920.  I  very  distinctly  recall  a  news- 
paper article  appearing  in  one  of  the  local  papers, 
giving  an  account  of  the  burning  of  a  farmer's 
home,  stating  that  on  account  of  his  fear  of  the 
banks  he  had  thousands  of  dollars  in  cash  in  the 
home  when  it  burned  down.  The  newspaper  offered 
its  condolences  to  him,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact 
he  was  busted  before  the  fire  occurred.  I  knew  that 
to  be  a  fact.  Another  case  of  someone  being  all 
wet. 

For  variety  that  fall  I  spent  a  day  at  the  County 
Fair  at  Maquoketa,  accompanied  by  Bob  and  Arion 
Lampe.  On  returning  home  I  was  mozeing  thru 
Andrew  about  20  miles  an  hour  or  less.  The  next 
evening  I  got  a  letter  from  the  Mayor  of  the  Town 
to  appear  for  a  hearing  on  a  Speeding  charge.  I 
went!  Did  not  plead  guilty  and  was  offered  a  trial 
the  next  evening. 

In  my  conversation  with  the  Mayor  he  advised 
me  the  speed  limit  was  20  miles  per  hour.  I  felt  I 
was  under  the  limit  and  would  stand  trial. 

The  following  night  I  drove  over  again  and  was 
met  by  at  least  30  men  at  the  City  Jail  where  the 
hearing  was  to  take  place.  The  men  of  the  town 
wanted  to  see  who  would  defy  the  venerable  mayor, 

189 


for  hadn't  they  picked  up  many  a  person  driving 
thru  their  town,  and  hadn't  they  all  pleaded  guilty 
rather  than  have  a  trial?  I  wouldn't,  for  I  don't 
believe  in  pleading  guilty  when  you're  not.  The 
trial  opened.  I  pleaded  not  guilty.  The  mayor 
advised  me  I  had  the  privilege  of  taking  an  appeal 
to  the  District  Court.  I  told  him  I  knew  all  about 
that.    He  said: 

"You'll  have  to  put  up  a  bond."  I  told  him  I  was 
prepared  to  do  that. 

He  fined  me  §5.00  and  I  wouldn't  pay  it,  telling 
him  I  wouldn't  pay  more  than  two  bits.  He  couldn't 
see  that  small  an  amount,  and  told  me  he  had  an 
appeal  bond  all  ready  for  me,  which  he  did,  and  I 
wondered  how  come;  he  had  it  all  ready?  How 
could  he  tell  I  wouldn't  pay  the  fine,  small  as  it  was? 
Anyway  I  signed  the  bond,  and  read  his  pedigree 
for  him.  It  was  almost  as  long  as  a  pure  bred  one. 
The  crowd  of  onlookers  gave  me  credit  for  taking 
the  position  I  did.    The  case  was  appealed. 

It  developed  that  during  the  trial  that  the  speed 
limit  was  15  miles  an  hour  instead  of  20  as  the 
Mayor  had  previously  advised  me.  Apparently  he 
didn't  know  the  speed  limit  of  his  own  town  and  in 
addition  to  that,  the  nature  of  the  evidence  against 
me  propounded  by  guesswork  on  the  part  of  two 
men,  one,  I  was  later  advised,  being  an  ex-convict 
and  the  other  a  man  from  whom  I  previously  had 
had  a  'ell  of  a  time  collecting  a  note.   I'd  gotten  the 

190 


money  from  him,  but  no  doubt  left  a  bad  taste  in 
his  mouth. 

Shortly  after  that  an  attorney,  a  very  good  friend 
of  mine  called  on  me  with  reference  to  the  case  say- 
ing, "Leo,  I'd  sooner  pay  that  fine  myself  than  to 
push  that  case." 

"If  you  feel  that  way  about  it,  why  don't  you  go 
over  and  pay  it  and  be  done  with  it,"  was  my  reply. 
He  smiled  about  it  and  left  the  bank.  I  never  heard 
anymore  about  it.  He  didn't  pay  it  either.  I  as- 
sume it  was  thrown  off  the  docket  in  due  time. 

Winter  was  soon  upon  us  and  the  tranquillity  of 
the  town  was  almost  normal.  People  were  becom- 
ing more  or  less  sedate ;  began  trusting  one  another 
again,  something  they  had  not  done  for  some  years. 
In  view  of  that  condition  obtaining  the  Commer- 
cial Club  arranged  for  a  big  banquet  to  be  held  at  a 
Lodge  room  bordering  on  that  beautiful  Mississippi 
River. 

Several  hundred  men  of  the  town  attended  and 
Happiness,  Joy  in  Living,  Harmony  and  Conversa- 
tion were  present. 

A  speaker  from  the  outside  spoke  on  Community 
Co-operation;  Doctor  Dennison,  that  able,  fluent 
orator  spoke  on  the  industries  of  the  town;  Joe 
Young  spoke  of  various  Civic  enterprises,  various 
members  of  the  Club  made  short  speeches;  Walter 
Sharnborg  stated: 

"For  when  the  One  Great  Scorer  comes 
To  write  across  your  name 

191 


He  writes,  not  that  you  won  or  lost, 
But  how  you  played  the  game." 

I  couldn't  help  but  feel  after  Walter  sat  down 
that  so  much  truth;  so  much  of  everything  good 
was  contained  in  those  few  lines,  that  I  committed 
them  to  Memory  immediately;  Memory  that  won- 
derful faculty  possessed  by  human-kind;  Memory, 
returning  to  you  thoughts  of  days  gone  by ;  Memory, 
bringing  back  home  happiness  of  the  past;  and  yet, 
Memory,  that  most  treacherous  faculty  a  man  pos- 
sesses. 

Someone  spoke  of  the  Joy  in  Living;  that  Belle- 
vue  possessed  everything  to  make  life  worth  while. 

Someone  else  spoke  of  our  little  pet,  the  Piano 
Factory,  going  into  detail  as  regards  its  re-con- 
struction. Henry  was  called  upon  to  say  a  few 
words,  as  only  Henry  could  say  them.  The  various 
industries  of  the  little  town  were  lauded  to  the  skies, 
all  but  one ;  one  that  no  one  present  seemed  to  think 
of;  one  that  no  one  paid  any  attention  to;  one  that 
was  plugging  along  in  its  own  way;  one  that  didn't 
need  additional  financing  every  now  and  then;  one 
that  has  since  that  time  been  self-supporting,  yes 
more  than  that,  profitable;  one  that  didn't  require 
a  lot  of  ORGANIZATION ;  one  that  proved  the  con- 
tention of  its  owners,  that  a  gravel  business,  pro- 
perly managed,  would  be  profitable.  Yes  sir,  every 
other  business  was  lauded,  but,  the  one  really  en- 
titled to  the  most  of  the  praise  was  inadvertently 
overlooked.     Invariably  that's  the  case. 

192 


Punch,  of  which  some  of  you  old  timers  know 
more  than  the  present  generation,  was  served. 
Everyone  partook  of  it,  including  ministers.  It  was 
good.  Everybody  was  happy.  The  future  of  Bellevue 
was  absolutely  assured.  CO-OPERATION  was  hit 
on  the  head  by  everybody;  every  speaker  dwelt  up- 
on it,  some  at  length.  Co-operate,  co-operate,  yes 
that  word  co-operate  was  mentioned  a  hundred  times 
and  more.  Immense  visions  of  the  future  were  por- 
trayed; the  speaker  would  lead  the  assembly  up  the 
mountain  top;  bathe  them  in  the  nice,  bright  sun- 
light, and  have  them  looking  out  beyond  into  the 
future.  (Many  of  us  had  become  accustomed  to 
traveling  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  the 
mountain  top  and  enjoyed  the  scenery  from  up 
above.)  Yes,  the  future  held  many  great  things 
in  store  for  us.  Wouldn't  business  at  the  Piano  Fac- 
tory hop  right  along  now?  Wouldn't  the  very  na- 
ture of  things  bode  for  our  success? 

Through  a  visionary  cloud  the  rainbow  appeared. 
Happiness  appeared  on  the  scene.  We  didn't  stop 
to  think  that  life  has  its  rythm ;  that  Life  had  its  ups 
and  downs;  that  moments  of  darkness,  those  un- 
interesting stretches  of  our  life,  were  the  real  test  of 
success.  We  felt  that  glory  and  ecstacy  would  re- 
main with  us  forever ;  we  felt  we  were  living  in  an 
age  of  perpetual  joyful  intoxication. 

You  bet  your  life,  it  was  a  real  banquet.  The  wee 
hours  of  the  morning  came  and  men  retired  to  their 
homes,  happy  in  the  thought  that  tranquillity  was 

193 


restored,  happy  in  the  thought  that  Harmony  pre- 
vailed ;  Harmony  that  untangles,  pacifies,  regulates, 
enlightens  and  up-lifts;  Harmony  that  sweetens  a 
man's  task  and  mellows  his  work;  Harmony  that 
necessary  requisite  of  efficiency  to  keep  a  man's 
head  and  hands  in  tune. 

The  winter  passed  rather  uneventful.  The  bank- 
ing business  went  along  in  a  more  orderly  fashion. 
People  were  commencing  to  be  themselves. 

Feed  on  the  bottoms  was  scarce  the  previous  fall. 
Some  of  the  boys  kicked  about  the  rotten  corn  crop. 
Hadn't  the  June  previous  taken  their  entire  crop 
of  corn,  and  hadn't  they  put  in  a  second  crop  about 
July  1st,  and  again  lost  that  in  the  flood  of  August? 
The  Bulls  were  heavy  eaters.  Of  course  they  had 
to  be  fed  and  kept  alive  for  the  spring  sale,  which 
was  to  be  one  of  the  events  of  the  season. 

Positively  do  I  recall  the  trip  down  to  the  sale, 
with  the  little  old  Milwaukee  chugging  along  until 
you  almost  feared  for  your  life.  Section  men  were 
busy  piling  sacked  sand  along  the  right-of-way, 
to  keep  the  tracks  from  slipping  down  the  river. 
Spring  came  early.  The  attendance  at  the  sale  was 
not  so  good.  Outside  buyers  were  conspicuous  by 
their  absence.  No  market  existed.  The  price  re- 
ceived was  small ;  the  cash  receipts  not  so  high ;  with 
the  net  result  that  the  proceeds  of  the  bulls  did  not 
pay  for  the  feed  advanced  to  keep  them  alive  the 
past  four  months. 

Ye  Gods!  what  was  to  become  of  the  bulls?   Real 

194 


honest  to  goodness  Short-Horn  Bulls.  Why,  an  or- 
dinary steer  would  have  brought  more  money.  Any- 
way the  owner  felt,  lets  stick  with  the  ship.  The 
market  may  yet  improve.     Whereupon  I  told  him 

"To  'ell  with  the  Bulls,  to  'ell  with  the  market,  and 
you  too.    I'm  thru." 

Again  and  again  I  listened  until  I  felt  there  yet 
might  be  some  salvation,  for  wasn't  most  every  pure 
bred  breeder  out  of  business?  Wouldn't  these  cattle 
be  hard  to  get  in  time?  With  many  of  the  breeders 
forced  out  of  business ;  forced  out  on  account  of  no 
market  for  their  product;  and  in  many  cases  due 
to  the  large  original  price  paid  back  in  1919,  with- 
out at  that  time  thinking  for  one  moment  of  the  Day 
of  Reckoning.  Neither  did  THEY  think  it  would 
come,  but  it  did.  Their  day  was  just  a  little  later 
getting  here,  that's  all. 

The  early  summer  of  1925  general  business  in 
the  town  wasn't  much  better ;  farmers  were  more  or 
less  hard  up  all  the  time  and  needed  help  every  now 
and  then;  the  factory  was  not  doing  so  well;  they 
had  negotiated  a  loan  of  considerable  proportions  in 
a  town  not  far  distant  and  were  carrying  their  ac- 
count with  them.  You  see,  previously  I  did  not  see 
fit  to  discount  any  additional  paper  for  them  and 
with  the  result  I  was  not  favored  with  the  business ; 
a  result  I  was  glad  obtained. 

About  that  time  the  company  got  into  difficulties 
with  one  of  their  large  creditors  in  Chicago;  they 
were  being  forced ;  an  attorney  from  Maquoketa  was 

195 


requested  to  accompany  the  President  to  Chicago 
with  a  view  to  helping  him  get  the  situation  ironed 
out.  But  the  manager  of  the  Chicago  Company  just 
wouldn't  be  ironed,  with  the  result  that  it  was  nec- 
essary for  the  Piano  Company  to  raise  an  amount 
somewhere  near  thirty  grand,  which  was  done,  by 
the  Company  placing  a  like  amount  of  their  bonds  as 
collateral  to  the  loan,  with  an  outside  institution; 
bonds  that  had  previously  been  held  by  the  Chicago 
House  as  collateral  security  to  their  account. 

The  new  loan  was  negotiated  by  Henry,  and  Ha! 
Ha !  again  old  Henry  was  happy  and  took  delight  in 
kidding  me  about  his  ability  to  get  the  money  with- 
out any  help  from  me  or  our  bank.  I  was  glad  he 
felt  that  way  about  it,  for  I  was  out  and  intended 
staying  out  for  keeps. 

After  he  negotiated  the  above  deal  Henry  thought 
he  wasn't  feeling  so  good.  He  should  have  felt  good 
but  he  didn't. 

Not  feeling  so  good,  he  told  me  one  evening,  that 
the  following  morning  he  was  going  somewhere  in 
Michigan  for  his  health,  to  spend  about  30  days  re- 
cuperating. He  was  gone  about  8  days.  About  the 
second  day  of  his  absense  his  brother  Bill  came  down 
and  advised  how  Henry  had  told  him  he  was  to  be  the 
boss.  That  was  alright  with  me,  I  didn't  care  who 
the  boss  was,  for  I  wasn't  discounting  any  paper  for 
them  anyway. 

The  next  day  Miss  Ludwig,  who  I  always  thought 
was  a  very  efficient  girl,  came  down  and  advised  that 

196 


Henry  had  told  her  she  was  to  be  the  boss.  I  told 
her  also  I  didn't  care  who  the  boss  was,  that  it 
wasn't  any  of  my  business.  You  see  there  again, 
they  used  the  banker  for  everything. 

Oh !  yes  I  listened  to  troubles  ranging  from  baby 
fights  up  to  pending  divorce  cases.  Daily,  Bill  or 
Vera  (Miss  Ludwig),  would  come  to  the  bank,  and 
I'm  telling  you  that  the  cat  and  dog  story  had  noth- 
ing on  those  two.  Henry  returned  in  a  few  days, 
and  ironed  matters  out. 

Some  of  the  boys  who  had  purchased  Wild  Cat 
Stocks  some  years  ago,  were  unloading;  some  got 
$6.50  per  share  (cost  $150.00)  and  some  nix,  and 
N-I-X  don't  mean  100  cents  on  the  dollar.  Regular- 
ly I  would  listen  to  them,  consoling  them  in  their 
loss,  (misery  loves  company) .     I,  too,  had  invested. 

June,  shortly  after,  the  annual  music  dealers  con- 
vention was  to  be  held  in  Chicago.  "Are  you  going 
to  have  a  display  there,  Henry?  I  greeted  him  one 
morning. 

"Of  course,  I'd  like  to,"  he  replied,  "but  I  haven't 
got  the  money  to  go  ahead  and  can't  afford  to  take 
it  out  of  the  business  right  now." 

We  visited  about  the  convention  for  some  little 
time,  whereupon  he  approached  me  to  discount  four 
trade  acceptances  for  him  and  that  the  funds  would 
be  repaid  within  30  days. 

After  reflecting  upon  the  matter  for  a  few  days 
and  having  in  mind  that  we  were  pretty  clean  with 
the  company  I  decided  we'd  better  help  him  out,  so 

197 


that  the  manufactured  Bellevue  product  would  get 
the  publicity  such  a  line  should  have.  That  noon  I 
discounted  the  paper  for  him  and  the  convention 
was  made  forthwith. 

A  good  many  orders  were  taken  at  that  conven- 
tion, Henry  and  his  crowd  returned  home  and  every- 
body went  to  work  making  pianos.  Henry  wasn't 
feeling  so  good  again  and  told  me  that  the  next 
morning  he  was  going  back  to  Battle  Creek  for  his 
health.  I  consoled  him,  of  course,  telling  him  he 
would  be  alright  after  a  little  rest. 

Two  days  later  I  got  word  from  a  good  friend  of 
mine  that  Henry  was  bound  for  Florida ;  that  he  had 
seen  him  make  arrangements  at  Chicago  for  the 
trip. 

Why,  the  son-of-a-gun.  Hadn't  he  told  me  he  was 
going  back  to  Battle  Creek  for  his  health,  and  here 
he  was  bound  for  Florida. 

The  day  following  I  walked  to  the  Piano  Factory 
(I  usually  drove)  and  walking  up  to  his  brother 
Bill  asked  him  "Well,  Bill,  how  do  you  think  Henry 
will  like  Florida?" 

He  looked  up  very  much  surprised  to  think  I  knew 
about  it  and  replied,  "Well,  Leo,  since  you  know 
where  he's  bound  for,  I  might  just  as  well  tell  you, 
I  don't  look  for  Henry  ever  to  come  back." 

All  that,  and  him  after  telling  me  he  wasn't  feel- 
ing good.  I  knew  he  wasn't  feeling  good  financially, 
but  I  didn't  think  it  was  that  bad,  that  he  had  to 
resort  to  leaving  without  anyone  knowing  about  it 

198 


here.  Yes  boys,  that's  the  way  she  went,  they  were 
getting  hotter  every  day.  It  gets  tough  and  then 
it  gets  still  tougher. 

Word  was  passed  around  that  Henry  had  skipped 
out.  Again  our  depositors  began  visiting  us,  for 
didn't  they  feel  that  we  owned  the  plant,  or  had  so 
much  money  in  it,  we  might  just  as  well  own  it,  when 
our  only  interest  was  the  last  funds  advanced  fool- 
ishly, I  admit. 

But  wasn't  it  necessary  to  get  the  benefit  of  some 
advertising  at  the  Convention,  which  would  ma- 
terially assist  in  future  sales?  And  wasn't  I  glad 
to  be  of  assistance,  provided  of  course,  not  too  much 
money  was  involved?  There  I  sat  with  another  loan, 
one  that  began  to  smell  early. 

Bill,  who  then  had  charge  of  the  plant,  could  not 
make  arrangements  with  me  to  discount  any  paper, 
and  apparently  was  unable  to  do  so  anywhere  else, 
so  in  desperation  he  came  to  me  with  his  troubles, 
unfolding  them  slowly  in  my  back  room.  I  listened 
intently,  for  the  $4,800.00  advanced  to  help  adver- 
tise at  the  convention  didn't  bother  me  so  much, 
just  another  of  those  vicissitudes  of  fortune;  just 
another  EXPERIENCE.  I  was  getting  used  to  them, 
one  more  or  less,  didn't  phase  me  much. 

I  advised  Bill  that  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  call 
a  meeting  of  their  creditors,  probably  make  an  as- 
signment and  wind  up  the  affairs  of  the  Company. 
I  was  getting  pretty  hot  about  then,  adding  the 
words  ''I  don't  give  a  whoop  what  the  'ell  becomes 

199 


of  that  Piano  Factory.  I've  been  given  credit  for 
being  its  Guardian  Angel  long  enough." 

Notices  were  sent  out  to  the  creditors  and  a  gen- 
eral meeting  was  called ;  the  business  was  assigned ; 
the  Assignee  liquidating  the  business  in  quite  an 
orderly  fashion.  Creditors  didn't  get  so  much,  for 
there  wasn't  much  to  be  had.  And  so,  came  to  an 
end  the  Henry  G.  Johnson  Piano  Mf'g  Co.,  a  com- 
pany that  the  prognosticators  would  have  you  be- 
lieve would  be  one  of  the  leading  industrial  con- 
cerns of  the  middle  west,  and  with  its  passing  on,  a 
good  deal  of  my  troubles  were  over  with.  (I  just 
thought  so.) 

Its  passing  on  marked  the  third  corporation  to 
pass  out  of  the  picture;  the  first  the  Bank  of  J. 
Kelso,  in  business  54  years;  the  second,  the  Bank 
of  Bellevue,  operating  for  a  longer  period  than  that, 
both  the  latter  institutions  going  through  many  a 
panic,  withstanding  financial  jolts  for  years;  looked 
upon  for  more  than  half  a  century  as  the  two  Rocks 
of  Bellevue,  compared  to  the  Rock  of  Gibralter. 

I  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  fast  automobile 
driver,  always  kept  my  machine  up  in  mighty  good 
shape,  they  had  to  be  to  stand  the  gaff  I  would  give 
them. 

I  recall  about  this  time  pushing  a  Studebaker  from 
Chicago  one  night  during  a  terrible  rain  storm, 
hardly  able  to  see  more  than  100  feet  ahead ;  driving 
at  a  rate  of  55  miles  per  hour,  when  directly  in  my 
path  stood  a  Ford  Coupe,  with  two  young  men  and 

200 


two  girls  in  it.  Unconsciously,  my  foot  sought  the 
brakes;  the  car  swerved  to  the  right;  leaped  into 
the  air  and  flew  thru  space,  landing  on  all  four 
wheels  however,  to  the  right  of  the  paving,  perched 
against  a  telephone  pole.  The  boys  in  the  Ford  were 
down  quickly  to  assist  me;  I  was  glad  I  was  alive 
and  so  were  they. 

It  seemed  there  was  a  railroad  crossing  directly 
ahead  of  them;  they  had  stopped  on  the  pavement 
awaiting  a  passing  freight;  turned  out  their  lights, 
which  accounted  for  me  not  having  seen  them  soon- 
er. When  the  machine  left  the  ground  I  slid  from 
the  seat,  doubled  myself  around  the  gear  shift  and 
brake,  so  that  in  the  event  the  car  would  land  upside 
down,  I  would  at  least  not  be  crushed  to  death.  Oh ! 
yes,  I  thought  fast,  let  go  of  the  wheel  and  trusted 
to  Providence  for  the  rest.  In  a  few  minutes  many 
cars  had  stopped,  all  ready  and  anxious  to  help  me 
back  up  to  the  pavement,  which  they  did.  This  oc- 
curred east  of  Dixon,  from  where  I  drove  home  that 
night.  You  bet,  my  nerve  was  still  with  me,  even 
in  the  face  of  death. 

After  the  Piano  Company  had  made  its  assign- 
ment, the  men  in  charge  wished  me  to  make  a  trip 
in  behalf  of  the  Company,  to  Los  Angeles,  but  on 
account  of  the  bad  conditions  that  existed  locally,  I 
could  not  see  my  way  clear  to  go.  Much  as  I  would 
have  liked  to  go ;  much  as  I  would  have  liked  to  see 
the  Pacific  Coast,  the  land  of  Sunshine,  Flowers  and 

201 


Dreams,  I  did  not  make  the  trip,  but  arranged  for 
Clarence  Ely,  a  very  able  attorney  from  Maquoketa, 
Iowa,  and  now  a  District  Judge,  to  go  in  my  stead. 
Since  it  was  to  be  one  of  the  very  few  I  was  to  make 
at  someone  else's  expense,  I  knew  the  trip  would  be 
worthwhile  but  had  to  forego  it.  You  see,  pleasure 
was  out  of  a  country  banker's  line. 


202 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  summer  of  1925  again  saw  the  examiners 
with  us,  the  State  man  named  Wilson,  a  very  ardent 
baseball  fan;  a  resident  of  Waterloo;  and  hot  for 
Waterloo  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  League.  Both 
mornings  were  spent  going  over  the  baseball  scores 
of  the  day  before.  He  enjoyed  talking  baseball  with 
me,  for  I  too,  knew  a  little  of  the  big  leaguers.  He 
carried  one  of  those  black,  Charli  Chaplin  cocky 
moustaches;  rather  proud  of  it.  I  complimented 
him  on  it ;  that  seemed  to  get  under  his  hide,  and  he 
and  I  got  along  very  fine.  He  patted  me  on  the 
back,  told  me  of  the  fine  improvement  shown,  and 
believed  we  would  work  out  from  under  alright, 
when  I  told  him  that  if  the  depositors  would  just 
leave  us  alone  for  a  time,  there  would  be  no  ques- 
tion of  our  working  out  of  our  troubles. 

For  three  years  past  the  demand  for  funds  was 
ever  present;  and  it  seemed  the  demand  was  con- 
tinually made  on  us ;  whether  in  the  way  of  loans  or 
the  withdrawal  of  deposits. 

You  see,  we  were  the  REAL  COMMUNITY 
ASSET  always  standing  ready  to  help,  and  glad  to 
assist  in  the  financing  of  the  local  community;  tak- 
ing part  in  everything  that  we  felt  boded  good  for 

203 


the  town  and  community.  No  legitimate  demand  for 
a  loan  was  turned  down,  even  tho'  we  had  to  dis- 
count the  note  with  the  Fed.  and  later  he  criticized 
for  not  cutting  the  loans  DOWN. 

Sure,  they  would  discount  it,  acknowledge  receipt 
of  the  paper,  sending  their  credit  advice,  and  then 
turn  around  and  call  you  on  the  carpet  for  it. 

You  fellows  know  why  the  Fed.  is  in  business. 
Sure,  they're  glad  to  help  you,  that's  what  they  are 
supposed  to  be  there  for,  but  when  you  need  the 
help  you  not  only  get  it,  but  you  get  a  lot  of  free 
advice,  criticism  and  'ell  with  it. 

You  have  a  big  demand;  heavy  withdrawals;  you 
go  in  and  see  them;  talk  the  matter  over  with  one 
of  the  boys.  You  get  what  you  need ;  what  you  want. 
Sure  they're  glad  to  do  it.  You  go  home  happy. 
Then,  a  few  days  after  you  get  home,  here  comes  a 
letter  criticizing  this  note  and  that,  again  asking 
you  to  cut  it  down ;  to  liquidate ;  stating  they  would 
prefer  not  to  increase  the  line,  when  Lord  knows, 
you  are  not  increasing  it  out  of  preference,  but  out 
of  plain  out  and  out  necessity. 

While  the  Piano  Factory  was  being  operated  un- 
der the  Assignment  previously  mentioned,  local 
people  commenced  to  lose  more  confidence,  and  land 
knows  there  wasn't  much  more  to  be  lost.  Our 
deposits  kept  dwindling  and  dwindling,  nothing  se- 
vere, but  continually  going  down. 

The  State  of  Iowa,  thru  its  Board  of  Conservation, 
was  induced  to  become  interested  in  a  huge  bluff 

204 


south  of  town,  a  bluff  much  like  many  others,  for 
which  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  is  noted. 

Again  the  Commercial  Club,  under  the  able  Presi- 
dency of  Mr.  A.  W.  Weber,  motored  to  Des  Moines, 
some  20  strong.  The  membership  of  the  Club  were 
all  personally  interested  in  seeing  the  good  old  State 
of  Iowa  make  a  State  Park  of  that  particular  point ; 
feeling  that  as  an  attraction  to  all  Iowans  it  could 
not  be  surpassed  in  beauty  and  splendor ;  that  every 
inhabitant  of  the  State  would  at  some  time  desire 
to  see  this  Park;  that  its  beauty  would  become  na- 
tionally known,  for  from  a  point  of  vantage  the 
United  States  Government  Proving  Grounds  at 
Savanna,  Illinois,  some  20  miles  south,  could  be 
plainly  seen  with  the  naked  eye;  and  to  the  north 
mounds  of  tremendous  size  could  be  seen  for  a 
distance  of  more  than  that.  With  the  Mississippi 
River  flowing  gently  by,  bordering  the  very  edge  of 
the  park,  some  200  feet  below,  a  view  was  presented 
that  makes  unnecessary  a  trip  to  the  Pacific  Coast 
for  Scenic  Wonders.  You  bet,  the  whole  gang  wanted 
the  Park,  pledged  their  every  assistance  to  bring 
about  that  much  desired  result. 

Would  the  folks  of  Bellevue  be  willing  to  do  their 
part,  in  case  the  State  of  Iowa  did  see  fit  to  make  a 
State  Park  of  it?  Would  we?  You  bet  your  life  we 
would,  and  to  a  man  the  Club  pledged  itself  to  lend 
their  every  assistance. 

The  Board  of  Conservation,  in  regular  session, 
granted  the  Club  an  interview.    For  some  reason  I 

205 


was  chosen  as  the  spokesman.  The  result  of  that 
trip  was  that  Bellevue  obtained  an  Iowa  State  Park, 
and  immediately  a  Park  Board  was  formed. 

After  another  inspection  of  the  premises,  by  some 
of  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Conservation  they 
decided  that  some  small  additional  tract  should  be 
added  to  the  Park  with  a  view  to  making  it  worth 
while,  such  entire  tract  to  cover  some  65  acres. 

Interviews  were  had  with  the  owner  of  the  ad- 
joining bluff  but  presumably  on  account  of  the  State 
wishing  to  have  it,  they  felt  a  price,  rather  ex- 
orbitant, should  be  asked.  While  for  ordinary  farm- 
ing purposes  the  real  estate  so  effected  would't  be 
worth  815.00  a  nacre,  yet  suddenly  the  price  had 
been  gyrated  to  an  impossible  figure.  Such  informa- 
tion was  conveyed  to  the  Board  of  Conservation  by 
myself,  for  I  had  the  honorable  position  of  Secre- 
tary of  the  local  Board.  They  did  not  see  fit  to  pay; 
such  a  price,  especially  so,  since  the  local  boys  had 
purchased  the  original  tract  and  donated  it  for  Park 
purposes,  with  the  result  that  Condemnation  Pro- 
ceedings were  the  next  thing  in  order. 

Proceedings  for  that  purpose  were  immediately 
instituted  by  the  office  of  the  Attorney-General  and 
carried  thru  to  a  successful  conclusion,  with  the  re- 
sult, however,  that  the  former  owner  as  well  as  his 
entire  family  took  the  position  that  I  was  the  man 
instrumental  for  their  having  received  a  price,  much 
less  than  anticipated,  resulting  in  the  loss  of  a 
mighty  fine  bunch  of  accounts.  I  stood  the  brunt  of 

206 


it,  however,  and  was  willing  to  let  it  go  at  that. 
Other  members  of  this  local  Board  felt  glad  to  shuffle 
the  blame,  in  the  hope,  possibly,  of  picking  up  the 
business.  That  was  alright  with  me  trio',  I  was  will- 
ing to  back  up  anything  I  was  interested  in,  and 
never  took  recourse  to  the  covers.  You'd  never 
catch  me  sliding  for  shelter,  for  why  shouldn't  a 
banker  be  honest  in  his  convictions? 

And  yet,  isn't  it  a  fact  that  many  a  time  the  hon- 
esty of  your  convictions  loses  you  business  you  hate 
very  much  to  lose;  business  that  helps  make  your 
institution  a  profitable  one. 

I  sometimes  think  that  the  bird  who  sits  back  on 
his  prat  gets  farther  than  the  banker  who  gets  out 
and  hustles  for  the  general  good  of  the  community. 
It's  been  demonstrated  here  and  there,  and  yet  I'd 
sooner  be  a  part  and  parcel — get  in  with  the  boys — 
and  help  make,  rather  than  sit  back  and  reap  the 
benefits  of  another's  labors. 

That  Park,  however,  shall  serve  as  a  memorial  to 
every  man  interested  in  bringing  it  to  Bellevue.  It 
shall  serve  as  a  memorial  to  the  members  of  the 
State  Board  of  Conservation,  for  with  the  improve- 
ments made  there  since,  up  to  the  time  of  this  writ- 
ing, it  will  and  must  be  classified  as  one  of  the  many 
Iowa  Beauty  Spots.  With  the  Bellevue-Savanna 
National  Forest  directly  beyond  the  river  a  scene 
is  presented  that  even  California  would  be  envious 
of. 

Late  that  summer  a  Power  Company  commenced 

207 


building  a  High  Line  from  Dubuque  to  Clinton,  for 
transmission  of  electrical  energy,  from  one  point  to 
the  other,  and  surveyed  thru  our  territory,  with  the 
idea  of  running  the  line  diagonally,  rather  than 
along  section  or  fence  lines  as  the  farmers  wanted 
them  to  do.  The  Power  Company  couldn't  see  it 
that  way  tho'  and  proceeded  along  their  original 
plans. 

Nine  tenths  of  the  farmers  in  our  trade  territory, 
over  whose  lands  the  line  was  to  run,  came  to  inter- 
view me  at  the  bank  with  reference  to  the  fact  that 
the  purchasing  agent  for  the  right-of-way  had  been 
out  to  see  them;  had  offered  them  a  very  low  price 
for  the  right-of-way  over  their  farms,  and  that 
they  would  not  sell  for  such  a  ridiculously  low  price 
and  that  they  wanted  me  to  talk  to  this  man  or  that 
about  getting  a  better  price  for  them.  Much  of  my 
time  for  a  month  was  spent  in  assisting  them.  An 
agreement  was  made  by  all  the  farmers  concerned  to 
stick  together;  none  were  to  sell  out  without  the 
consent  of  all  the  farmers  effected.  We  formed  a 
little  organization,  and  the  boys  requested  that  I 
should  handle  all  negotiations  with  the  Power  Com- 
pany, which  I  did,  with  the  net  result  that  in  many 
instances  a  farmer  got  ten  times  as  much  as  the 
purchaser  had  offered  him  in  the  first  instance ;  some 
farmers  got  more  money  than  they  had  been  willing 
to  accept  some  time  previous,  etc. 

When  the  final  settlement  day  came  it  resulted  in 
a  battle  of  wits  between  myself  and  a  representative 

208 


of  the  Company,  at  which  most  of  the  farmers  were 
present,  and  at  which  meeting  the  final  settlement 
prices  were  arrived  at.  Yes,  sir,  I  gave  the  boys  ev- 
ery assistance;  had  my  expenses  in  connection  with 
investigations  I  had  made,  paid  by  the  power  com- 
pany, as  the  farmers  all  knew.  Easements  were 
obtained,  and  the  farmers  went  home  happy.  In  a 
few  days  a  yarn  came  to  me  as  having  been  told  by 
one  of  the  farmers  "I'll  bet  Schmitty  got  a  dam 
nice  thing  out  of  that." 

Now,  I  leave  it  to  you,  wasn't  that  appreciation? 
My  efforts  didn't  cost  any  farmer  one  red  dime.  He 
was  present  when  the  Company  agreed  to,  and  did, 
pay  my  expenses.  And  yet  here  he  was  stating  that 
I  got  mine. 

What  a  sucker  I  was.  I  should  have  charged  each 
of  them  a  reasonable  fee,  in  which  event  my  work 
would  have  been  appreciated.  I've  realized  since 
what  a  fool  I  was.  But  then,  that's  what  you  gen- 
erally get  for  being  a  good  fellow. 

That  entire  fall  and  winter  the  Commercial  Club 
spent  much  time  in  trying  to  interest  someone  in 
taking  over  the  plant  of  the  Piano  Company,  since 
the  Creditors  Committee  had  completed  their  work, 
and  the  plant  was  now  idle.  They  didn't  meet  with 
much  success.  Sure,  many  a  man  was  willing  to 
come  and  open  the  plant  for  this  purpose  or  that, 
but  always,  ever  present,  was  that  statement  that 
local  people  would  have  to  finance  the  business. 
Would  local  people  do  it?    Absolutely  not.     They'd 

209 


been  doing  nothing  else  but,  for  years  and  felt  it 
was  up  to  someone  to  take  it  over  and  put  up  real 
cash  of  their  own. 

Finally,  as  a  last  resort,  an  advertisement  was 
placed  in  a  Music  Trade  magazine,  in  the  hope  that 
some  manufacturer  might  become  interested  and 
probably  make  an  investigation. 

The  advertisement  carried  a  fine  picture  of  the 
main  building  of  the  company,  a  building  approxi- 
mately 80x500  feet. 

Sure  enough  Ed.  Rauworth,  then  general  manager 
of  a  large  piano  factory  at  DeKalb,  telephoned  the 
the  President  of  the  Commercial  Club  one  day  ask- 
ing for  particulars,  which  particulars  Mr.  Kempter 
gladly  gave.  Paul  advised  him  over  the  phone  that 
he  and  a  Committee  would  probably  visit  him  short- 
ly and  go  over  all  matters  with  him. 

Directly  Paul  came  to  the  bank,  for  why  shouldn't 
he?  Where  could  he  find  a  fellow  more  willing  to 
work  and  co-operate  with  a  view  to  getting  the  plant 
into  operation,  so  employment  could  be  furnished 
for  many  of  our  people,  and  at  the  same  time  better 
serve  the  interests  of  the  town  in  general?  A  hur- 
ried consultation  took  place.  Paul  and  I  decided  to 
drive;  started  out;  got  stuck  in  a  good  many  snow 
drifts  (March  '26)  ;  shoveled  our  way  out  several 
times,  until  our  physical  endurance  was  no  more. 
Once  while  Paul  was  shoveling  back  of  the  car,  I 
attempted  to  back  out  of  the  drift  and  almost  ran 
over  Paul.     Just  then  we  decided  to  return  home 

210 


and  go  by  rail,  which  we  did,  arriving  at  DeKalb  the 
following  morning.  We  were  shown  around  the 
plant ;  it  looked  like  a  bee-hive  of  industry  and  was. 
Men  were  working  hard ;  the  plant  was  the  utmost  in 
cleanliness ;  everything  had  an  air  of  prosperity  and 
Paul  and  I  wished  our  plant  could  be  put  into  the 
same  condition,  and  that  it  also,  might  soon  be  a 
bee-hive  of  industry. 

Every  conceivable  Grand  Piano  we  saw,  from 
Baby  Grands  to  Concert  Grands;  all  beautifully 
finished,  being  manufactured  for  one  of  the  biggest 
concerns  of  its  kind  in  America. 

The  books  of  the  Company  were  shown  us;  they 
indicated  a  very  nice  profitable  business;  the  man- 
ager was  getting  an  excellent  salary,  indicating  far 
more  than  average  ability.  Paul  and  I  felt,  if  only 
we  could  convince  this  man  to  take  over  our  plant. 
Shortly  we  went  into  consultation  with  our  man, 
prevailed  upon  him  to  accompany  us  to  Bellevue  that 
evening,  which  he  agreed  to  do. 

Upon  arriving  at  Bellevue  we  were  met  by  a  dele- 
gation of  the  Commercial  Club  (again  they  were  on 
the  job)  ;  went  into  session  immediately;  the  ses- 
sion lasted  late  into  the  night.  The  following  morn- 
ing the  committee  and  its  prospect  for  the  plant, 
made  a  thoro  inspection  of  the  premises;  the  pros- 
pect stated  he  thought  it  one  of  the  finest  plants  he 
had  ever  seen,  one  of  the  finest  little  plants  in  Am- 
erica.   A  business  conference  was  the  result. 

Would  the  people   of  the   community   who   held 

211 


bonds  in  the  Henry  G.  Johnson  Piano  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  which  bonds  were  at  that  time  in  de- 
fault on  account  of  non-payment  of  interest  and 
taxes,  agree  to  accept  7  per  cent  preferred  stock  in 
a  new  Company  to  be  organized,  such  stock  to  be 
accepted  in  exchange  for  their  bonds,  provided  a 
like  amount  of  Capital  was  put  up?  The  man  to 
put  it  up  to  take  like  stock  ? 

A  general  meeting  of  the  bond-holders  was  called 
for  the  evening.  A  large  majority  of  the  bonds  were 
represented  at  that  meeting.  Would  they  agree  to 
such  an  arrangment,  and  in  case  they  would,  would 
they  sign  up  on  that  basis?  Why  of  course,  they 
would,  and  proceeded  to  sign  up.  Didn't  they  wish 
to  have  their  plant,  which  had  been  idle  for  some 
time,  open  again  and  furnish  a  livelihood  for  many 
a  man  in  the  town?  Didn't  they  all  have  a  lot  of 
civic  pride?  and  didn't  they  prefer  getting  a  7  per 
cent  dividend  on  their  stock,  rather  than  carry  over 
past  due  coupons,  which  never  would  be  paid? 

As  a  result  of  that  meeting,  signatures  of  the 
bondholders  were  obtained,  practically  all  of  the 
bondholders  signing  the  agreement  with  the  ex- 
ception of  possibly  a  dozen.  Notice  of  the  signing 
was  sent  to  DeKalb  and  within  30  days  the  new  man- 
ager was  here  on  the  job,  looking  after  the  cleaning 
up  of  the  plant,  painting  it  and  otherwise  placing  it 
in  first  class  condition.  His  theory  was  that  cleanli- 
ness begot  success. 

Lumber   commenced   to   arrive;   other  materials 

212 


came  also;  manufacturing  was  commenced,  and  in 
a  short  time  Bellevue's  little  pet  factory  was  again 
on  top  of  the  world  and  enthusiasm  ran  rampant. 
Business  activity  increased  about  the  town;  the 
merchants  were  glad  the  plant  would  be  again  in 
operation ;  for  couldn't  John  Jones  or  Bill  Smith  pay 
their  grocery  bill  regularly  now?  To  a  man  almost 
everyone  looked  for  the  success  of  the  plant.  Many 
months  were  spent  in  preparation  and  a  complete 
Grand  Piano  was  the  result.  A  Piano  that  many 
of  the  natives  enjoyed  looking  over,  and  of  course 
everyone  felt  they  would  like  to  have  one  for  their 
home.  But,  Grand  Pianos  cost  money,  and  many  of 
them  changed  their  minds.  They  preferred  getting 
something  out  of  the  plant  (you  see  they  had  pre- 
ferred stock)  rather  than  putting  something  into  it. 
You  see,  putting  in  was  about  all  they  had  been  do- 
ing before,  and  hopes  ran  high  that  dividends  would 
be  forthcoming  shortly,  and  in  the  event  dividends 
were  large  enough  they  might  consider  buying  an 
instrument  themselves.  (These  lines  are  being  writ- 
ten two  years  later  and  no  dividend  has  been  paid.) 
Louis,  the  Jew,  a  local  merchant  whose  stock  had 
the  sheeny  appearance,  and  I  bought  quite  a  block  of 
the  old  Henry  G.  Johnson  Piano  Manufacturing 
Co.  bonds,  prior  to  the  making  of  the  exchange. 
We  would  buy  the  bonds,  have  7  per  cent  preferred 
stock  certificates  written  for  them,  handing  the 
original  bonds  to  the  company.  We  bought  at  40  to 
60  cents  on  the  dollar.    We  were  both  going  to  make 

213 


money.  The  Jew,  of  course,  made  all  of  his  own 
deals,  as  did  I  also.  Louie  and  I  got  along  fine  at 
that  time,  until  a  short  time  later  that  summer  he 
was  asked  by  an  attorney  why  he  didn't  cash  in  on 
a  Judgment  he  had  against  a  certain  fellow,  to  which 
Louie  replied  that  he  couldn't;  that  the  State  Bank 
had  a  mortgage  on  everything  he  had  on  the  place. 
"Give  it  to  me,"  said  the  attorney,  "I'll  get  the 
money  for  you,"  which  the  Jew  naturally  did,  for 
who  wouldn't  be  glad  to  get  a  judgment  of  five  or 
six  hundred  dollars  paid  up  in  full?  I  believe  previ- 
ously I  said  something  about  Shyster  lawyer.  I 
hope  the  reader  makes  no  connection  by  inference. 

One  hot  afternoon  the  man  against  whom  the 
Judgment  was  held,  telephoned  me  that  the  Sheriff 
had  just  been  down  and  attached  all  of  his  personal 
property,  about  S20,000  worth  in  connection  with 
the  Judgment  held  by  Louie,  and  what  would  he  do 
about  it?  I  wasn't  an  attorney  (thank  goodness) 
but  did  tell  him  there  was  nothing  for  him  to  do  but 
to  watch  the  Sheriff,  so  he  wouldn't  run  away  with 
all  that  stuff.  I  knew  the  Sheriff  personally,  and 
knew  he  would  get  quite  a  kick  out  of  the  joke.  I 
have  had  just  a  little  experience  in  connection  with 
Chattel  Mortgages,  and  felt  that  ours  was  good, 
altho  in  this  day  of  adverse  Court  decisions,  its  pret- 
ty hard  to  make  anything  stand  up.  However,  I  was 
perfectly  willing  to  go  to  bat  on  the  case  and  let  the 
Court  decide  as  to  their  legality  and  value. 

Didn't  that  bird  go  in  and  contend  that  the  Chat- 

214 


tel  Mortgages  held  by  us  were  invalid,  etc.?  and 
proceed  to  levy  immediately,  even  going  to  the  ex- 
tent of  advertising  a  Sheriff  Sale  of  the  property, 
or  enough  thereof  to  satisfy  the  Judgment  he  was 
attempting  to  collect? 

A  hearing  was  had  on  the  matter ;  Louie,  the  Jew, 
was  ordered  to  release  much  of  the  attached  pro- 
perty ;  another  hearing  was  had ;  Louie  was  ordered, 
by  the  Court  of  course,  to  release  additional  stuff, 
with  the  result  that  it  was  not  released  promptly, 
whereupon  someone  told  Louie  that  there  was  some- 
thing in  this  world  like  Contempt  of  Court  for  not 
complying  with  the  Court's  orders,  so  Louie  thought 
he'd  look  around  and  probably  get  some  other  legal 
advice,  which  he  felt  he  later  told  me,  would  be  a  bit 
more  correct  than  advice  he  had  obtained  in  the  past. 
The  upshot  of  the  matter  finally  came,  in  Louie  re- 
taining the  levy  on  a  team  of  mules,  a  pony  and  a 
bull. 

The  owner  was  going  to  claim  exemption  on  the 
team  of  mules;  his  son  was  going  to  claim  owner- 
ship of  the  pony,  and  it  was  agreeable  all  around 
that  Louie  should  have  the  Bull.  Just  then  Louie 
called  on  me,  told  me  he  had  listened  to  enough  Bull 
(referring  to  his  legal  advice)  and  that  he  would  not 
take  the  Bull.  He  offered  to  do  anything  under  the 
sun  on  account,  he  said,  of  the  Contempt  matter.  He 
offered  to  pay  all  expenses  we  had  incurred  in  the 
matter;  offered  to  pay  our  attorney;  offered  to  pay 
me  personally  for  the  drives  I  was  compelled  to 

215 


make.  Since  he  so  generously  offered  to  pay,  why 
shouldn't  I  forget  it,  and  forget  the  Contempt  end 
of  it  also?   Sure,  I  told  him,  I  would  be  glad  to. 

The  experience  cost  him  more  than  $400.00  at 
the  time,  without  reckoning  his  expense  otherwise, 
and  time  lost,  and  in  addition  here  was  his  own 
attorney  to  pay.  Louie  said  he  wasn't  going  to  pay 
that  and  would  stand  a  suit  before  he  would  do  so. 
Well,  he  got  the  suit  later  on  and  had  to  pay. 

An  attorney  some  years  previous  had  rendered  a 
long  written  opinion  on  an  abstract  of  title,  cover- 
ing a  large  farm  near  here;  stated  among  other 
things  that  certain  Patents  were  missing;  that  the 
wife  of  Peter  P.  Maier  failed  to  join  him  in  releas- 
ing a  Real  Estate  Mortgage  he  had  held  on  the 
same  farm,  etc.,  etc.  The  fact  was,  the  Patents 
were  shown  on  the  abstract;  Peter  P.  Maier  never 
had  a  wife ;  never  was  married.  The  opinion  referred 
to  certain  coheir  rights,  etc.,  etc.  I  turned  to  the 
purchaser,  who  was  ready  to  make  the  settlement, 
and  told  him  to  go  ahead  and  make  it;  that  the 
abstract  in  that  respect  was  alright,  and  not  to  pay 
any  attention  to  that  long-winded  opinion,  which 
didn't  mean  anything  anyway. 

Now  then,  poor  Fred,  the  purchaser,  didn't  know 
whether  to  believe  me  or  the  lawyer.  I  insisted  I 
was  right  and  so  did  the  lawyer.  I  leave  it  to  the 
reader,  and  you  don't  have  to  be  a  lawyer  either. 
I  think  your  last  assistant-cashier  can  answer  that 
one. 

216 


At  any  rate,  on  account  of  my  showing  up  his 
ability  at  that  time,  he  later  spent  many  long  hours 
writing  up  petitions;  long  winded  petitions;  peti- 
tions that  some  attorneys  have  told  me  since  they 
could  not  make  head  or  tail  out  of,  they  adding  the 
statement,  "Well,  you  know  him" ;  many  of  the  peti- 
tions being  directed,  I  might  say,  at  me  personally; 
attacking  this  or  that,  even  to  the  extent  of  asking 
the  Court  to  set  aside  certain  papers  in  connection 
with  the  sale  of  Real  Estate  made  some  years  ago, 
without  success  however.  Previously  I  said  some- 
thing about  paper  being  used  to  write  petitions  and 
hanging  on  rolls.  I  know  that  he  solicited  business, 
the  nature  of  which  no  reputable  attorney  would 
solicit. 

Practically  the  entire  legal  talent  of  our  section 
are  close,  warm  personal  friends  of  mine  and  I  hold 
them  in  the  very  highest  regard.  I  might  write 
pages  about  anonymous  letters  but  prefer  not  to.  An 
anonymous  letter  writer  is  the  very  lowest  type  of 
human  being,  and  I  should  not  even  say  'human.'  I 
hope  to,  some  day,  write  another  book  'Anonymous,' 
and  expect  to  play  up  an  attorney  as  my  'leading 
man.' 


217 


CHAPTER  XX. 

June  of  1926  came  and  so  did  the  Examiners.  A 
very  thoro  examination  was  made,  a  real,  honest 
appraisement  of  the  assets  of  our  bank.  After  much 
deliberation  between  the  Board  of  Directors,  myself 
and  the  Examiners,  a  resolution  was  passed  levying 
a  100  per  cent  assessment  on  the  stock  of  the  bank, 
notices  in  connection  with  which  were  to  be  sent  out 
August  15th. 

That  date  notices  were  sent  out  to  the  stockhold- 
ers, we  had  70  some.  The  notices  were  mailed  on  a 
Saturday  night.  There  was  considerable  discussion 
and  more  talk  the  following  day,  Sunday.  (Folks 
didn't  mind  desecrating  the  Sabbath  Day.)  Many 
of  the  stockholders  were  sore  and  sour  about  it  and 
gave  vent  to  their  feelings  in  no  uncertain  terms. 
The  Public  by  noon  of  that  Sunday  knew  all  about  it. 
Oh !  yes,  I  was  getting  the  co-operation  of  the  stock- 
holders alright.  Here  was  the  Board  of  Directors 
and  myself,  having  a  'ell  of  a  time  for  a  number  of 
years;  nothing  but  GRIEF  and  worry,  anticipating 
that  in  view  of  the  general  banking  conditions  of 
the  State,  the  stockholder  would  see  the  matter  in 
the  proper  light ;  take  the  assessment  graciously  and 
do  for  the  institution  what  they  could ;  talking  right 

218 


all  the  time,  instead  of  wrong  as  many  of  them  did. 

Monday  morning  came.  Our  Assistant-Cashier 
Henry  Graaff  always  got  down  to  the  bank  early, 
cleaned  up,  swept  out,  keeping  the  place  looking  im- 
maculately clean.  This  particular  morning  he  had 
just  arrived  at  the  bank  a  little  after  seven,  when 
in  pops  a  stockholder  owning  10  shares  of  stock, 
with  a  time  deposit  of  about  §5,000.00  with  the 
words,  "I  want  the  money,  we  need  it  in  the  busi- 
ness." 

Seemed  funny  that  overnight  that  business  of 
their's  required  such  a  large  amount  of  capital. 
Henry  paid  the  cash;  couldn't  convince  him  to  take 
a  draft.  He  takes  the  filthy  lucre  and  trots  to  his 
place  of  business  with  it.  The  balance  of  the  force, 
including  myself,  appeared  on  the  scene  shortly; 
Henry  advised  us  of  what  had  transpired,  when  in 
walks  another  stockholder,  the  owner  of  4  shares, 
presents  a  certificate  of  deposit  of  $400.00  and 
asked  for  cash.  We  tried  to  explain  to  him  that  the 
assessment  was  placed  in  the  interest  of  the  de- 
positor and  that  he  should  consider  himself  in  the 
light  of  a  depositor  for  a  few  moments,  appreciate 
what  we  were  doing  for  the  depositors,  and  forget 
for  the  time  being  that  he  was  a  stockholder.  He 
couldn't  see  it  in  that  way  and  still  wanted  his 
money;  the  certificate  was  past  due;  naturally  we 
paid  it;  in  CASH. 

Cash  to  us  at  that  time  was  being  considered  al- 
most hellish.     Everybody  wanted  it,  in  some  cases 

219 


we  were  able  to  convince  the  depositor  that  we  were 
alright;  that  his  money  was  safe,  whereupon  he 
would  go,  leaving  the  funds  with  us.  But,  when  the 
stockholder  gives  you  that  sort  of  co-operation,  what 
can  you  hope  to  do  ?  Nothing,  but  try  and  combat  it 
at  every  turn.  We  had  quite  a  few  cases  of  such 
stockholders.  We  did  the  best  we  could;  put  up  a 
'ell  of  a  fight ;  tried  to  hang  on  to  all  the  deposits  we 
could,  but  try  as  we  would  we  didn't  seem  to  be  able 
to  offset  the  talk;  the  telephone  company  did  a  fine 
business  those  days;  the  operators  were  kept  busy. 
I  want  to  add  here  that  much  of  the  talk  was 
partially  justified,  for  didn't  one  of  the  Directors, 
a  John  Haxmeier,  transfer  his  farm  to  one  of  his 
sons,  and  his  town  property  to  someone  else?  You 
see,  we  had  a  directors  note,  and  he  was  afraid  he 
would  have  to  pay  his  portion  of  it  if  the  bank  went 
to  smash,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact,  his  name  was 
NOT  on  the  Directors  note.  The  very  fact  that  he 
made  those  transfers  started  a  line  of  talk  thruout 
the  community  that  we  could  hardly  combat  success- 
fully. Yet  the  boys  and  I  were  willing  to  try  and 
did  succeed  fairly  well,  altho  our  deposits  shrunk 
several  hundred  thousand  dollars  at  the  time ;  money 
that  we  hated  to  pay  out,  but  what  else  was  there 
to  do?  Didn't  this  Director  make  those  transfers 
and  wasn't  he  walking  around  with  head  hung  low, 
worrying  himself  about  his  responsibility,  when  in 
truth  there  was  no  responsibility  whatsoever?  His 
transfer  of  his  property  was  the  rankest  injustice 

220 


done  our  bank  by  anyone,  and  here  he,  a  director. 
What  else  could  the  depositors  assume?  Why  did 
he  make  the  transfer?  For  weeks  I  would  not  speak 
to  him,  some  months  later  telling  him  about  the  rank 
injustice  he  had  done  us;  a  wrong  he  could  never 
hope  to  rectify,  and  how  his  very  act  might  be  the 
means  of  wrecking  reputations  enjoyed  by  many  a 
man  in  the  community. 

That  fact  did  come  to  pass,  for  this  writer  at  the 
present  time  is  buying  groceries  on  credit,  for  the 
first  time  since  entering  the  banking  business,  18 
years  ago.  I  have  not,  however,  lost  my  hold  on  life ; 
am  prepared  to  push  with  the  same  energy  I  used 
in  operating  the  bank.  Quoting  one  of  the  Depart- 
ment's men  'Schmitt,  if  you  get  out  and  apply  as 
much  energy  for  yourself,  as  you  did  in  operating 
this  bank,  you'll  be  a  rich  man  some  day."  And  to 
recuperate  financially,  every  moment  of  my  spare 
time  is  being  used  in  writing  this  book;  it  is  being 
written  entirely  from  memory.  I  am  working  with 
the  boys  of  the  Department,  have  access  to  the  books 
and  records  of  the  bank  but  am  not  taking  advan- 
tage of  that  fact  to  gather  data,  using  my  memory 
only.  I  want  to  be  given  credit  for  passing  on  some 
of  my  GRIEF  without  resorting  to  a  lot  of  records, 
data  or  a  diary,  for  I  have  never  kept  such  a 
thing.  I've  never  written  for  a  magazine,  nor  for 
a  newspaper,  and  this  book  is  my  first  attempt. 

All  the  information  contained  herein  is  furnished 
from  Memory ;  Memory,  the  receptacle  of  all  knowl- 

221 


edge;  Memory,  when  Joy,  no  longer  Joy;  but  when 
Sorrow,  Sorrow  still;  Memory,  a  bitter-sweet,  both 
a  joy  and  a  scourge;  Memory,  the  treasure  house 
of  the  mind,  wherein  monuments  thereof  are  kept 
and  preserved;  Memory,  like  a  rainbow,  bright, 
vived  and  beautiful  in  some  things,  and  covered 
with  a  ghastly  pallor  in  others;  Memory,  that  only 
Paradise  from  which  we  cannot  be  turned  out. 

At  the  time  of  the  particular  transfers  previously 
referred  to,  many  stories  of  other  transfers  came  to 
us  at  the  bank.  Many  were  told  that  the  President 
had  transferred  everything  to  his  wife  and  son. 
Wasn't  it  a  fact  that  he  owned  at  that  time,  and 
does  today,  in  his  own  name,  a  large  farm  within 
two  miles  of  town,  and  didn't  he  own  real  estate 
mortgages  on  record  at  the  county  seat,  and  still  a 
matter  of  record?  Didn't  every  other  director  of 
this  institution  retain  title  to  all  the  property  he 
had?  Weren't  they  the  square  shooters  in  doing  all 
they  could  for  this  institution?  You  bet  your  life, 
they  were. 

Altho  again,  the  dirty  scandal  monger  was  busy 
telling  folks,  this  director  had  transferred  this,  and 
that  Director  had  transferred  that,  and  many  people 
would  believe  it.  I  said  something  about  anonymous 
letters  a  short  time  back.  I  have  reason  to  assume 
that  I  know  where  they  originated,  but  consider  an 
anonymous  letter  writer  so  low  that  I  do  not  wish 
to  harm  the  ribbon  on  this  Underwood  by  typing 
even  the  word. 

222 


None  of  them  would  make  it  a  point  to  make  an 
investigation  at  the  County  Seat.  Many  folks,  even 
today,  don't  know  what  a  County  Recorder's  office  is 
for.  At  least,  so  I  must  infer,  for  didn't  they  be- 
lieve all  that  crap  and  not  take  the  trouble  to  in- 
vestigate ? 

They  would  come  to  the  bank ;  want  their  money ; 
telling  us  about  having  heard  this  or  that;  about 
this  director  and  that;  we  tried  to  convince  them; 
asked  them  to  go  to  Maquoketa  and  investigate; 
offered  to  telephone ;  pay  the  toll  ourselves,  and  allow 
them  to  ask  the  recorder  to  look  up  the  record  and 
report  back  to  them  at  once.  Oh!  no,  they  didn't 
care  to  do  that,  all  they  wanted  was  just  the  money. 
They  would  rather  believe  the  scandal-monger  than 
the  County  Recorder.  Not  a  day  went  by  but  some 
depositor  would  call;  the  same  rigmarole  was  gone 
thru;  now  and  then  we  would  save  a  deposit,  now 
and  then  paying  one,  and  everybody  wanting  Cash, 
good  old  coin  of  the  realm.  They  got  it.  They'd  go 
out,  salt  it  or  deposit  in  some  other  bank.  Yes,  they 
were  happy,  but  they  couldn't  forget  it.  The  first 
coffee-klatch  they  attended  wasn't  banking  the  sub- 
ject of  their  conversation,  and  didn't  they  broad- 
cast they  had  drawn  their  money  and  that  they  were 
dam  glad  of  it?  Didn't  they  say  they  wouldn't  take 
a  chance  on  that  bank,  and  if  they  got  any  more 
money  they  wouldn't  put  it  there?  Didn't  a  lot  of 
them  say  they  hated  like  'ell  to  take  it,  but  that  they 
had  heard  so  much  about  the  bank  that  they  decided 

223 


to  draw  their  money?  Wasn't  this  pup  and  that 
feeding  the  flames,  all  the  time  in  the  hope  they 
might  undo  us.  They've  accomplished  their  purpose, 
and  I  hope  they  are  satisfied. 

Thru  it  all  the  Board  of  Directors,  consisting  of 
Louis  H.  Lampe,  Joseph  Daugherty,  Michael  Kil- 
burg,  John  A.  Feldermann,  Arthur  Kucheman,  Matt 
Even  and  I,  would  work  like  the  devil  to  meet  those 
situations.  Liquidate  fifty  to  seventy-five  thousand 
dollars;  sit  pretty  for  a  little  while,  and  then  again 
liquidate  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  more,  pay  that  out, 
and  then  liquidate  some  more  and  then  pay  again, 
and  again. 

You  bet,  my  dear  old  mother  was  glad  and  proud 
I  was  a  banker,  but  little  did  she  know  my  grief  and 
worry ;  little  did  she  know  of  my  troubles,  for  thank 
God  she  lived  elsewhere ;  little  did  she  know  that  her 
son  was  fighting  like  the  devil  to  maintain  the  good 
name  of  the  institution ;  the  reputations  of  the  Board 
of  Directors;  the  reputations  of  the  employees,  for 
had  she  known,  God  knows  what  would  have  become 
of  her.  I'd  heard  of  fellows  going  out  to  lick  the 
world  and  being  successful.  I  wasn't,  altho  I  put 
up  a  good  fight.  I  take  solace  in  the  old  many 
times  repeated  expression,  misquoted  "  'Tis  better 
to  have  fought  and  lost  than  never  to  have  fought 
at  all."  During  that  period  stories  of  all  kinds  were 
rampant.  Hadn't  I  gone  south  with  all  the  cash? 
Hadn't  Schmitt  disappeared?  And  wasn't  it  a  fact 
that  Schmitt  was  right  here  in  the  bank  all  the  time 

224 


trying  his  best  to  allay  matters?  Tete  Des  Morts, 
a  little  former  French  settlement,  10  miles  north, 
even  called  up  and  asked  whether  we  were  closed, 
that  they  had  received  that  report  within  the  hour? 
You  believe  me,  she  was  a  battle,  we  could  have 
used  a  Maximillian,  Fifteenth  Century  German 
Armor  those  days. 

Now  and  then  a  stockholder  would  come  in;  ask 
all  about  the  assessment,  then  state  he  didn't  believe 
he  would  pay  his.  Had  very  few  of  that  kind,  how- 
ever. After  considerable  persuasion,  if  he  still, 
thought  he  wouldn't  pay  it,  he  was  told  in  no  uncer- 
tain terms,  by  myself,  that  I  was  going  to  collect 
HIS  assessment  and  that  the  quicker  he  got  that  in- 
to his  head,  the  better  off  he  would  be ;  that  we  were 
having  plenty  of  grief  with  the  depositors  and  that 
I  wasn't  inviting  more  grief  from  a  stockholder,  but 
that  if  he  was  looking  for  a  fight  he  sure  would  get 
it,  and  leave  it  to  me  to  collect.  The  large  majority 
of  the  stockholders  paid  without  a  whimper;  paid 
graciously,  appreciated  the  fact  that  banking  condi- 
tions here  were  very  upset  and  that  they  more  or 
less  expected  an  assessment;  that  they  were  not 
surprised  to  get  the  notice. 

Collection  of  the  assessment  was  coming  along 
fine ;  a  few  stragglers  hadn't  paid  and  were  requested 
to  call  and  go  over  the  matter  with  us.  I  knew  I'd 
have  a  fight  on  my  hands ;  knew  most  everyone  was 
paying  his,  and  why  shouldn't  this  fellow  or  that?  I 
was  ready  for  the  fight  tho,'  you  see,  I  was  ac- 

225 


customed  to  putting  up  a  fight,  for  didn't  I  know  him 
to  be  good  for  the  amount,  and  wasn't  I  going  to 
have  easy  sailing  to  collect  it? 

The  net  result  was  that  I  believe  the  record  of 
that  assessment  has  not  often  been  duplicated  thru- 
out  the  State,  as  the  Department  records  will  indi- 
cate. Every  assessment  was  paid  with  two  ex- 
ceptions. What  was  the  use  of  trying  to  collect  that, 
for  wouldn't  it  be  necessary  for  us  to  take  over  his 
home  in  order  to  protect  us  on  money  he  owed  on 
notes,  say  nothing  of  his  assessment.  That  house 
is  0.  R.  today. 

When  the  assessment  was  in,  the  boys  and  I  were 
happy  again,  provided  happy  our  condition  might 
be  termed.  You  see,  we  had  forgotten  all  about  hap- 
piness, altho  the  popular  song  of  that  day,  "I  want 
to  be  happy,"  didn't  mean  much  to  us.  We  wanted 
to  be  that  way,  but  couldn't  seem  to  get  into  that 
mood. 

During  all  of  those  times  many  and  many  a  con- 
ference I  had  with  old  Mike,  one  of  my  directors, 
and  by  the  way,  one  of  the  best  bank  directors  I  have 
ever  known.  Mike  was  a  worker.  Mike  was  out 
trying  to  help  us ;  Mike  tabooed  a  lot  of  the  talk  on 
the  outside ;  Mike  was  full  of  pepper ;  wouldn't  listen 
to  a  lot  of  the  bunk.  You  bet  Mike  was  an  asset  to 
our  institution ;  one  that  did  not  appear  on  our  pub- 
lished statement;  an  asset  that  meant  much  to  us. 
The  writer  is  glad  to  be  out  of  the  business,  but 
should  it  ever  be  his  fortune,  or  term  it  the  opposite 

226 


if  you  wish,  to  operate  a  bank,  a  Board  consisting  of 
5  Mikes  would  be  our  biggest  asset. 

Some  years  prior  to  this  time  a  young  fellow  full 
of  pep  and  vim  came  to  me,  stating  he  intended  go- 
ing into  the  Grocery  business,  and  that  he  would 
have  to  have  a  little  assistance.  Going  over  the  mat- 
ter with  him  I  agreed  to  assist  him  for  a  reasonable 
amount.  Business  opened  up  good — he  didn't  seem 
to  give  it  the  care  it  required.  Business  fell  off 
after  about  a  year  or  so  with  the  result  that  an 
assignment  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors  was  made. 
Having  a  chattel  mortgage  on  the  property,  we  fared 
quite  well — and  incurred  the  enmity  of  various 
wholesale  houses,  whose  contention  it  was  that  we 
were  getting  the  lion's  share  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  the  business.  Why  shouldn't  we?  Our  Chat- 
tel was  good. 

The  Assignee  was  able  to  interest  other  parties 
in  taking  on  a  part  of  the  fixtures  and  again  we 
were  asked  to  finance  the  new  business.  The  new 
owners  were  young,  industrious,  enterprising  young 
lads,  and  would  no  doubt  make  good,  and  did.  How- 
ever, the  relatives  of  both  young  men  saw  fit  not  to 
patronize  our  bank,  no  doubt  feeling  we  were  unsafe, 
and  as  a  result  moved  their  accounts  elsewhere.  But 
then,  invariably  that's  what  you  get.  Oh!  yes,  I 
might  write  a  long  record  of  tears  and  heartaches 
of  similar  cases,  but  what's  the  use  ?  I  can  only  add 
that  in  the  face  of  the  relations,  the  boys  have  made 
good,  and  here's  more  power  to  them. 

227 


About  that  same  time  I'd  financed  a  confectionery 
business,  backed  by  the  owner's  mother.  The  owner 
saw  fit  to  resell  the  business,  and  accompanied  the 
business  to  another  point  with  the  new  owner,  leav- 
ing the  poor  old  mother  here  to  take  care  of  the 
obligation.  She  did,  but  not  without  a  good  many 
heartaches.  When  you  stop  and  think  how  a  good 
many  men  and  women  treat  their  dear  old  mother, 
the  mother  that  went  to  the  very  doors  of  death  for 
their  sake,  you  wonder.  It  has  always  been  my 
policy  to  be  kind  and  gentle  to  old  people,  a  qualifi- 
cation I  hope  I  may  retain  in  after  years.  I  always 
feel  that  any  man's  treatment  of  an  old  man,  stooped 
and  gray,  or  an  aged  lady  wrinkled  with  worry  and 
ill-health,  reflects  that  man's  character  positively. 

Early  fall  of  1926  came;  prices  were  somewhat 
better  altho'  the  Bulls  had  to  have  more  feed.  Four 
Hundred  and  Sixty  Five  acres  didn't  seem  to  pro- 
duce enough  to  keep  them,  and  of  course  they  had 
to  kept  alive,  and  about  that  time  I  didn't  care  whe- 
ther school  kept  for  the  Bulls  or  not.  School  was  out 
as  far  as  I  was  concerned  and  the  school  ma'am  had 
gone  home  for  the  night. 


228 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Bellevue  did  have  one  industry  though  that  fur- 
nished continuous  employment  for  some  dozen  men 
— The  Bellevue  Clay  Products  Co. 

This  company  had  been  organized  some  years 
previous,  and  was  engaged  in  the  manufacturing  of 
some  brick,  building  tile,  and  many  flower  pots. 

Their  flower  pots  were  shipped  to  many  points 
throughout  the  middle  west;  their  pots  were  in  de- 
mand; they  were  strong,  substantial,  and  porous 
enough  to  make  them  a  very  desirable  pot  for  use  in 
Greenhouses,  and  as  a  result  the  company  enjoyed 
a  very  fine  business. 

Clay,  used  in  the  manufacturing  of  the  pots,  was 
obtained  from  a  hillside,  nearby — clay,  that  some 
years  previous  was  pronounced  perfect  for  the  pur- 
pose— clay,  samples  of  which  had  been  tested 
by  other  men  interested  in  the  Clay  products  of  the 
State,  and  pronounced  as  good  as  the  State  con- 
tained. 

With  an  abundance  of  such  clay  in  the  locality,  a 
man  of  the  town,  having  proven  himself  a  high 
pressure  promoter,  promptly  proceeded  to  OR- 
GANIZE a  syndicate,  organizing  it  for  the  purpose, 
he  said,  of  capitalizing  Bellevue's  natural  resources. 

229 


A  lot  of  you  bankers  have  heard  that  expression 
'Natural  Resources'  plenty  often,  for  hasn't  there 
some  time  in  the  past  been  some  promoter  come  to 
your  town,  called  a  meeting  of  the  live  wires  of  the 
town,  talked  for  hours  and  hours  of  the  natural  re- 
sources of  your  community  in  the  hopes  that  he 
might  interest  you  and  others  in  the  formation  of  a 
company  to  exploit  such  resources,  and  hasn't  it 
been  proven  that  nine  times  out  of  ten  the  Natural 
Resources  are  usually  the  bunk?  Didn't  you  listen 
for  hours  and  hours  to  the  promoters'  line  of  talk; 
didn't  you  believe  that  if  all  he  said  were  possible, 
your  little  town  would  grow  and  prosper ;  would 
take  its  place  among  the  metropolitan  towns  of  the 
State?  And  isn't  it  a  fact  that  today,  possibly  years 
after  you  have  forgotten  about  Natural  Resources 
and  the  company  that  was  organized  at  that  time, 
your  town  is  just  about  the  same  as  it  was  years  ago? 
It  is  true  that  in  some  cases  Natural  Resources  made 
a  town — but  a  wild  cat  promoter  never  helped  to 
make  it  such. 

Well,  the  syndicate  was  organized — the  promoter 
worked  around  the  town  for  some  weeks  advising 
that  if  you  would  put  up  S250.00  in  cash  to  help 
ORGANIZE  the  syndicate  (you  see,  companies 
weren't  being  organized  any  more,  folks  had  had 
enough  of  that,  so  Syndicate  was  the  next  best  word 
to  use)  you  would  own  a  one-twentieth  interest  in 
the  syndicate  being  organized  for  S5,000.00 ;  that  the 
particular  $5,000.00  would  be  used  to  interest  Chica- 

230 


go  Capital  in  the  formation  of  a  Company,  (you 
see,  he  was  going  out  of  town  for  the  real  money, 
unusual)  so  naturally  folks  thought  that  since  only 
15,000.00  was  being  used  the  proposition  could  not 
by  any  manner  or  means  be  construed  as  PROMO- 
TION. 

Yes  sir,  if  you  put  up  $250.00  you'll  own  a  one- 
twentieth  interest  in  the  syndicate  and  after  the 
company  was  formed  your  S250.00  would  be  re- 
turned to  you  in  cash,  together  with  a  large  amount 
of  additional  cash,  and  in  addition  you  were  to  re- 
ceive, I  don't  recall  how  many  thousands  of  dollars 
worth  of  stock  in  the  new  company  (to  be  first  or- 
ganized of  course) . 

Didn't  he  tell  the  boys  that  he  had  been  down  to 
Chicago  a  good  many  times  and  had  had  the  mat- 
ter of  this  clay  up  with  the  Big  Guns  down  at  Chi- 
cago, and  that  he  had  them  worked  up  to  where  they 
were  wild  about  the  Clay.  Men  get  wild  about  mo- 
ney ;  they  get  wild  about  sports ;  they  get  wild  over 
women,  and  here  they  were,  getting  wild  over  Clay, 
at  least  so  Joe  told  the  boys. 

Didn't  he  tell  them  the  new  company  he  was  in 
the  process  of  forming  would  be  capitalized  for  two 
million  dollars;  that  he  had  options  on  all  the  clay 
in  the  territory;  that  he  had  an  option  on  the  local 
plant;  and  that  he  was  going  to  put  the  plant  and 
these  clay  leases  into  the  new  company  at  a  much 
higher  figure  than  their  actual  cost  was,  and  that 
the  boys  putting  up  the  money  would  share  in  those 

231 


appreciated  values;  that  it  would  make  them  all 
rich ;  and  that  they  were  making  a  serious  mistake  if 
they  didn't  come  in?  Didn't  he  meet  with  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  outline  his  plans  to  them,  and 
didn't  their  enthusiasm  run  so  wild  that  they  con- 
sidered buying  a  share  in  this  syndicate  also?  The 
Chamber  of  Commerce  was  just  a  little  hard  up  for 
cash  at  the  time  and  felt  there  could  be  no  way  in 
which  their  finances  might  be  replenished  any  easi- 
er than  by  taking  a  share  in  the  skyndicate  (pardon 
me,  I  intended  to  write  syndicate) . 

You  bet  your  life,  the  boys  were  brought  up  to  a 
stage  of  enthusiasm  that  led  some  of  them  to  pre- 
dict the  population  of  our  little  town  of  1,900  to  be 
19,000  in  ten  years.  You  know  how  enthusiasm 
builds  air  castles;  air  castles  that  in  themselves  are 
only  air  castles,  and  yet  are  air  castles  that  lead 
men  otherwise  sound,  conservative  and  shrewd,  to 
invest  their  funds  in  propositions  they  wouldn't 
think  of  placing  their  money  in,  only  for  the  high 
pressure  line  they  listen  to. 

High  Pressure — yes  sir,  Week  had  it.  Many  and 
many  a  trip  he  made  to  Chicago — had  the  property 
appraised  by  some  appraisal  company — wasn't  it  a 
fact  that  it  was  considered  worth  millions — and  could 
be  bought  from  the  farmer,  in  most  cases,  cheaper 
than  a  good  Iowa  farm  was  purchased  for  some 
years  previous. 

Wasn't  it  a  fact  that,  with  proper  equipment,  such 
as  the  new  company  would  undoubtedly  have,  hun- 

232 


dreds  of  cars  of  flower  pots  and  building  blocks  and 
drainage  tile  could  be  shipped  out  every  day?  And 
wasn't  it  a  fact  that  every  car  so  shipped  would  rep- 
resent a  net  profit  of  So-much  money,  and  that  with 
24  working  days  every  month  and  with  twelve 
months  in  the  year  the  company  could  make  so 
many  hundred  thousands  every  year — pay  7  per  cent 
interest  on  their  bonded  indebtedness,  and  then  have 
about  35  per  cent  for  the  common  stockholders.  You 
see  ,the  local  syndicate  was  to  have  their  holdings 
in  Common  stock.  They'd  agreed  that  they  didn't 
want  any  Preferred  Stock — they'd  had  plenty  of  that 
before  and  got  no  preference — now  they  wanted 
Common  Stock;  you  see,  they  wanted  to  be  just  com- 
mon stockholders,  for  wasn't  the  common  stock  go- 
ing to  pay  35  per  cent  plus,  and  why  would  they 
want  7  per  cent  preferred  when  their  prospects  of 
getting  5  times  that  much  were  exceedingly  bright — 
so  Joe  had  told  them,  and  since  everybody  knew  Joe 
personally,  why  of  course,  there  could  be  no  doubt 
about  it.  Joe  had  been  born  and  raised  in  the  little 
town;  had  been  engaged  in  the  insurance  business 
for  many  years;  had  been  successful  in  the  busi- 
ness; had  assisted  in  the  promotion  of  other  enter- 
prises elsewhere,  even  to  the  extent  of  promoting  an 
Oil  well.  (I  don't  know  whether  oil  ever  flowed 
or  not) . 

Why,  of  course,  the  boys  all  knew  Joe — and  why 
shouldn't  he  be  able  to  put  the  proposition  over? 

Again  and  again  Joe  would  go  to  Chicago — return 

233 


to  Bellevue  when  he  would  be  met  promptly  by  some 
of  the  syndicate  members  when  the  following  con- 
versation would  take  place : 

Member:  "Hello,  Joe,  how's  things  coming?" 

Joe :  "Just  fine,  I've  been  working  like  the  dickens 
at  Chicago." 

Member:  "Do  you  think  you'll  be  able  to  swing 
them  into  line?" 

Joe:  "Say  listen,  those  birds  down  there  are  just 
crazy  to  get  at  this  thing." 

Member :  "Well,  when  do  you  expect  to  have  some 
of  them  out  here  to  look  the  proposition  over?" 

Joe:  "Most  any  time  now,  just  so  soon  as  the  ap- 
praisers make  their  report." 

Joe  would  go  on  home  and  the  member  trot  around 
town  and  tell  the  rest  of  the  members  about  it. 

Settlements  on  the  syndicate  were  about  to  be 
made,  that  is,  payment  by  the  member  of  his  S250.00. 
This  or  that  one  did  not  have  the  cash  available  just 
then  and  would  Joe  be  willing  to  take  his  note? 

Joe  had  done  considerable  promoting  prior  to  that 
time,  and  hesitated  about  taking  the  note,  without 
first  taking  the  matter  up  with  the  banker. 

One  day  Joe  came  to  me  and  asked  whether  I'd 
take  a  certain  fellow's  note  for  S250.00  representing 
his  share  in  the  syndicate.  I  hesitated  to  do  that, 
having  had  a  belly  full  of  promotion  notes  in  the 
past. 

Joe :  "Well  now  listen,  that  fellow's  going  to  make 
a  lot  of  money  out  of  this  deal." 

234 


Myself :  "That  may  be  alright  Joe,  I  hope  he  does, 
but  I'm  through  with  those  damn  promotion  notes." 

Joe :  "Don't  you  think  that  bird's  note  is  good  for 
$250,00?" 

Myself:  "I  know  darn  well  it  is,  but  I  wouldn't 
give  you  a  nickel  for  the  best  promotion  note  in 
town?" 

Joe:  "What  the  'ells  the  matter  with  you  lately, 
you  won't  come  in  on  the  syndicate  and  now  you 
won't  even  buy  a  good  note  like  this  one?" 

Myself:  "Listen  Joe,  I've  told  you  before  I 
wouldn't  give  you  a  nickel  for  it,  and  your  education 
hasn't  been  so  neglected  that  you  didn't  get  me  the 
first  time." 

Joe :  "But  my  gosh,  man,  this  proposition  of  mine's 
going  to  make  this  town." 

Myself:  "Yah,  that's  alright,  I  hope  it  does,  but 
it's  not  going  to  be  made  at  my  expense,  I've  been 
backing  plenty  around  this  place,  and  another  thing 
Joe,  if  that  bird  hasn't  got  the  cash  to  join  that 
syndicate  of  yours,  he's  got  no  damn  business  in  it, 
and  you  know  it." 

Joe :  "Hell,  you're  crazy,  you  wait  'till  I  get  back 
from  Chicago  next  week,  I'll  have  a  man  with  me, 
and  after  you  listen  to  him  for  five  minutes,  you'll 
want  to  come  in  yourself." 

The  latter  part  of  the  following  week  Joe  did  call 
with  a  man,  reported  as  being  from  Chicago.  He 
measured  about  60  inches  around  the  waist.  Joe 
took  him  to  my  back  room,  inviting  me  back.    I  was 

235 


introduced  to  the  man,  who  to  all  appearances  was 
prosperous.  His  game  no  doubt  made  him  look  that 
way.    Joe  always  looked  the  same  way. 

For  more  than  an  hour  I  had  air  castles  built  for 
me— told  the  boys  I  was  pretty  busy  and  would  have 
to  get  out  some  work,  and  invited  them,  as  cordially 
as  I  knew  how,  to  leave. 

The  day  following  in  walks  Joe  again. 

Joe:  "How'd  you  like  the  man  yesterday?" 

Myself:  "Seemed  like  a  real  fellow,  I  thought." 

Joe :  "Say  listen,  that  man's  a  big  guy  down  there 
at  Chicago.  He  controls  the  building  tile  business  of 
Chicago,  and  you  know  what  that  means." 

Myself:  "What  do  you  mean,  he  controls  the  tile 
business  down  there." 

Joe :  "Well,  I'll  tell  you.  You  see  there's  one  com- 
pany down  there  that  controls  the  entire  situation 
and  he's  at  the  head  of  that.  Why  that  fellow's  one 
of  the  highest  salaried  men  down  there." 

Myself:  "Well,  if  he's  such  a  good  man  as  all 
that,  what's  he  doing  out  here,  can't  that  company 
furnish  all  the  tile  Chicago  needs?" 

Joe:  "That's  just  it,  Leo,  you  see  there's  such  a 
terrific  amount  of  building  going  on  down  there  that 
they  haven't  the  facilities  to  turn  out  building  tile 
fast  enough,  and  it's  his  idea  to  put  over  this  plant 
out  here,  and  take  it  into  their  organization." 

Myself:  "That  sounds  pretty  good,  Joe,  but  how 
much  money  are  they  going  to  put  into  this  plant 
out  here?" 

236 


Joe :  "They  don't  have  to  put  up  any  money  on  this 
deal.  You  see  here's  the  way  we're  going  to  work  it. 
I  have  these  options,  costing,  say,  One  Hundred 
Thousand  Dollars.  The  appraisal  shows  the  pro- 
perty worth  $2,500,000.00,  for  which  amount  the 
new  company  will  be  capitalized.  You  see,  I'll  put 
in  the  options  for,  say,  two  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars in  cash  and  three  hundred  thousand  dollars 
worth  of  stock.  I'll  give  the  boys  that  put  up  the 
money  on  the  syndicate  their  money  back  and  so- 
many  shares  of  stock  in  the  company,  all  common. 
You  see,  there  won't  be  any  preferred.  Then,  the 
company  will  issue  two  million  dollars  worth  of  other 
common  stock  to  the  men  interested,  which  will  do 
away  with  all  the  capital  stock,  and  there  won't  be 
any  promotion  in  the  whole  deal.  Then,  they'll  take 
this  appraisement  before  some  bond  broker  down 
there  and  show  him  that  the  company  is  fully  or- 
ganized with  $2,500,000.00  Capital  Stock,  all  fully 
paid  up,  and  have  him  float  a  bond  issue  for  one 
million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  They'll  get 
that  money,  maybe  a  net  of  one  million  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  you  see  the  broker  will  probably 
charge  them  about  20  per  cent  for  handling  the  deal. 

With  that  $1,200,000,000  they'll  spend  about  one 
million  in  new  buildings  and  equipment,  and  by 
Gosh,  we'll  have  one  of  the  finest  Clay  works  in  the 
world ; 

Myself :  "Well  Joe,  what's  going  to  happen  to  that 
other  $200,000.00?" 

237 


Joe:  "Oh!  you're  too  dam  particular  this  morn- 
ing. What  do  you  care  what  happens  to  it.  Isn't 
Bellevue  getting  something  for  nothing,  so  why  pick 
it  to  pieces  right  away?" 

Myself:  "I  never  saw  anyone  get  something  for 
nothing,  Joe,  that  ever  amounted  to  a  dam,  and  you 
know,  the  more  I  think  of  that  clay  deal  the  less  I 
think  of  it." 

Joe:  "What  the  'ell's  the  matter  with  you  this 
morning.  Don't  you  want  this  town  to  grow — why 
don't  you  get  behind  this  proposition  and  help  it 
along?  You  know,  I  still  have  4  shares  in  this  syn- 
dicate to  sell,  then  I'm  ready  to  shoot." 

Myself:  "Listen  Joe,  when  you  can  show  me  a 
plant  down  there,  there  won't  be  a  son-of-a-gun  in 
this  town  that'll  do  more  for  that  company,  but 
you're  going  to  show  me  the  plant  complete  before 
I  spend  any  more  time  with  you  about  it.  Now  don't 
bother  me  about  it  any  more.  I  wouldn't  put  a  dime 
into  it,  as  bad  as  I  want  to  make  money. 

Exit  Joe. 

These  lines  are  being  written  about  two  years 
later — the  hills,  those  beautiful  hills,  towering  to- 
ward the  skies,  in  heavenly  majesty,  covered  with 
verdant  foliage  in  the  summer  time,  and  appearing 
bleak  and  cold  during  the  winter  months,  still  con- 
tain their  Clay. 

No  company  has  been  ORGANIZED  and  no  doubt 
the  syndicate  is  at  an  end ;  placed  in  an  open  grave 

238 


which  still  yawns  its  welcome  to  the  harbor  of 
finalilty. 

Enthusiasm,  Organization,  Death,  Oblivion.  Yes, 
Oblivion,  a  night  without  stars ;  a  silence.  Now  and 
then  a  member  tries  to  resurrect  it.  His  Hope 
breaks  the  seal  of  the  tomb.  His  Faith  rolls  away 
the  stone,  and  yet,  in  the  face  of  his  Hope;  in  the 
face  of  his  Faith;  the  Clay  remains  right  in  those 
hills  where  an  all-wise  Omnipotence  saw  fit  to  place 
it. 

For  some  unaccountable  reason  the  World  didn't 
seem  to  want  the  Rauworth  Grand  Piano  as  badly  as 
Eddie  thought  they  wanted  them.  Business  didn't 
look  up,  rather  down,  orders  did  not  come  in  as  they 
might;  some  grands  had  been  shipped  out;  repeat 
orders  didn't  come  in  an  anticipated.  The  piano 
didn't  seem  to  quite  suit.  Business  wasn't  growing 
as  the  Prophet  would  have  you  believe.  Yes  sir, 
they  needed  accommodations  also  to  tide  them  over. 
A  lengthy  conference  was  had. 

The  assets  of  the  company  were  far  more  than 
enough  to  take  care  of  their  liabilities  with  a  mighty 
nice  excess  for  the  stockholders.  A  line  of  credit  was 
granted  them. 

The  Holiday  season  came  along.  Wouldn't  the 
world  need  Grand  Pianos  for  the  Holiday  Trade, 
and  wouldn't  the  plant  be  too  small  to  furnish  the 
requirements?  Wouldn't  all  the  boys  interested  in 
the  plant  make  a  lot  of  money?  Couldn't  they  bring 
their  production  up  to  6  Grands  a  day  and  couldn't 

239 


they  make  $60.00  a  Grand  clear  velvet?  And 
wouldn't  that  figure  almost  a  hundred  thousand  a 
year  clear  profit,  over  and  above  all  expenses? 

The  Holiday  Season  was  here  but  folks  in  America 
had  been  taught  their  lesson ;  they  became  conserva- 
tive; why  spend  the  price  of  a  Grand  Piano  when 
you  can  buy  a  Radio  from  Sears,  Roebuck  for  S50 
complete?    Naturally  they  bought  Radios. 

The  Grands  on  the  floor,  beautifully  lacquered, 
were  becoming  covered  with  dust,  now  and  then  one 
or  two  of  them  dusted  off  and  shipped  to  far  off  Cali- 
fornia or  south  to  Texas  or  to  some  other  point. 
Oh !  she  was  getting  to  be  some  world.  I'd  drive  up 
to  the  plant.    The  boss  was  gone. 

"How  are  things  going,"  I'd  ask  the  watchman. 
"I'm  still  watching  the  plant,"  he  replied.  Appar- 
ently the  watchman  was  kept  to  see  that  no  one 
threw  a  Grand  Piano  on  his  back  and  run  away  with 
it  during  the  night,  so  the  watchman  was  kept  on 
the  job. 

Oh !  yes,  I  almost  forgot  the  bills.  You  see,  at  lot 
of  raw  material  had  been  purchased  wherewith  to 
make  the  pianos  and  of  course  the  boys  that  fur- 
nished it  expected  to  get  their  money.  They  were 
very  much  surprised  now  and  then  to  find  that  the 
bill  remained  unpaid  and  occasionally  would  come 
to  Bellevue,  walk  into  the  bank  and  ask  how  the 
Piano  Company  was  coming. 

I  didn't  know  much  about  the  Piano  business, 
altho  I  should  have,  for  it  had  given  me  plenty  of 

240 


grief  and  trouble,  possibly  more  of  that  than  many 
a  manufacturer  had,  but  yet,  not  making  a  study  of 
the  business,  I  felt  I  didn't  know  much  about  it.  You 
know,  I  didn't  profess  to  know  everything  about 
everybody  else's  business,  like  some  folk  do,  more 
than  the  man  who  was  getting  paid  to  know. 

Really,  if  many  of  the  concerns  in  America  knew 
how  many  people  there  were  that  know  all  about 
their  business,  they  would  put  them  on  their  payroll. 
I'd  almost  decided  to  hire  about  a  dozen  of  the 
natives  and  give  them  a  job  in  the  bank.  They 
seemed  to  know  more  about  our  business  than  I  did, 
at  least  they  made  many  a  statement  that  I  didn't 
know  anything  about.  And  here,  I  was  on  the  pay- 
roll, and  yet  I  might  have  been  the  fool,  for  didn't  the 
good  wife  insist  upon  my  discontinuing  my  con- 
nection here  the  summer  of  1920,  but  I  was  per- 
sistent, and  was  going  to  stick  it  out.  I  was  wrong 
tho,  it's  me  that's  been  stuck  out,  struck  out,  kicked 
and  abused  and  what  not,  and  yet  in  the  face  of  it 
all,  boys  how  happy  I  am. 

That  winter  of  1926  and  1927  saw  further  peti- 
tions being  filed,  but  since  paper  is  used  for  the  two 
purposes  previously  mentioned,  I  shall  say  no  more 
about  it. 

The  winter  of  1926  and  1927  was  plenty  tough; 
farmers,  many  of  them  having  their  names  in  our 
note  case,  got  their  hog  returns;  came  to  the  bank, 
for  the  Equity  Shipping  Association  left  their  re- 
turns with  us ;  asked  about  their  notes,  pay  them  or 

241 


part  of  them,  and  hand  in  a  check  for  the  balance  of 
the  account,  asking  for  the  CASH.  Everyone  needed 
cash. 

I  never  could  quite  fathom  why  those  fellows 
needed  currency  as  badly  as  all  that,  all  at  once. 
Hadn't  we  gone  along  with  them  thru  thick  and 
thin?  Hadn't  we  carried  them  over  the  previous 
summer?  Hadn't  we  advanced  additional  funds  to 
them  from  time  to  time?  Hadn't  we  been  the  fine 
bank  to  do  business  with,  and  wasn't  it  a  fact  when 
those  hog  returns  came  in,  he  had  immediate  use 
for  the  funds?  Couldn't  leave  them  on  his  checking 
account  and  check  them  out  in  the  ordinary  course, 
as  he  had  been  doing  for  many  years  prior.  Oh !  no, 
he  had  to  have  the  cash;  he  was  afraid.  Well!  he 
got  it.    And  again  I  would  think,  isn't  that  'ell? 

Here  we'd  been  helping  that  bird  for  years,  tiding 
him  over  the  last  three  or  four  lean  years,  and  that's 
what  you  get  for  it.  Many  a  time  I  would  make  that 
statement  to  one  of  My  Gang  (I  was  in  the  habit  of 
referring  to  the  other  employees  as  My  Gang)  a 
gang  that  will  soon  be  broken  up;  a  gang  that  the 
writer  will  many  times  think  of  with  sympathy  and 
pleasure;  a  gang  that  was  always  courteous;  pleas- 
ant, honest,  agreeable,  affable  and  a  pleasure  to 
work  with. 

The  Fall  of  1926  saw  a  poor  corn  crop  locally;  it 
was  chaffy;  wasn't  worth  much  for  feed.  The  boys 
on  the  up-lands  were  very    pessimistic,  for    why 

242 


shouldn't  they  be,  wasn't  everybody  getting  to  be  a 
confirmed  pessimist? 

Wasn't  the  Iowa  Legislative  Session  that  winter 
anything  but  a  congregation  of  Optimists?  Were 
they  a  congregation  of  Bolsheviks?  Weren't  they 
bellyaching  and  talking  about  Bank  Guarantee  Leg- 
islation? Weren't  the  boys  down  there  terribly  wor- 
ried about  the  bank  situation  thruout  the  State  of 
Iowa?  Iowa,  that  grand  (not  piano)  old  Hawkeye 
State;  Iowa  whose  egg  crop  brought  more  money 
that  the  entire  Orange  Crop  of  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia ;  Iowa  covered  by  beautiful  blue  sky  and  plen- 
ty of  farm  mortgages? 

Certainly  the  boys  down  at  that  Session  were  wor- 
ried about  the  situation.  The  Hard  Road  Surfacing 
proposition  seemed  to  worry  them  a  great  deal  too. 
The  comic  circle  began  to  be  more  or  less  of  a  joke 
between  Bank  Guarantee  and  Cement  Roads  and 
arguments  were  on  as  to  which  would  come  out  first. 
The  door  was  too  narrow  for  both  to  come  thru  to- 
gether.   No  one  was  there  to  widen  it. 

Some  wanted  Bank  Guarantee  and  others  wanted 
Cement  Roads.    What  then,  was  to  be  done? 

And  so  the  debates  went  on  and  eloquent  and  bril- 
liant and  impressive  and  statesmanlike  speeches 
were  delivered  in  succession. 

Even  the  boys  down  there  didn't  do  much  of  any- 
thing else  but  TALK.  That's  all  it  amounted  to. 
Then  in  the  evening  they  would  retire,  these  ex- 
hausted orators  would,  to  their  rooms  to  recruit  their 

243 


drained  energies,  so  as  to  resume  the  round  of  con- 
ferences, committees,  memoranda,  proposals,  amend- 
ments and  more  orations  the  next  day . 

The  next  morning  the  rhetorical  roundabout 
would  again  be  cranked  up,  with  the  result  that 
Bank  Guarantee  chased  Cement  Roads  and  Cement 
Roads  chased  Bank  Guarantee,  neither  of  them 
catching  up  with  the  other. 

Such  will  probably  go  on  until  the  machine  wears 
out  and  is  replaced  by  some  other  form  of  entertain- 
ment. 

There  had  been  nothing  like  that  session  since 
Swift's  satire  on  the  Wars,  or  since  the  argument 
was  settled  as  to  whether  an  egg  should  be  broken 
on  the  small  end  or  at  the  large. 

The  halls  and  corridors  rang  with  debate;  a  rep- 
resentative now  and  then  would  be  boohed  down.  It 
they  had  just  agreed  that  no  more  eggs  were  to  be 
laid  until  the  arguments  were  settled  everything 
would  have  been  alright.  But  they  couldn't  even 
agree  on  that.  The  legislator  owed  the  bank  a  lot  of 
money;  did  not  consult  with  his  local  banker;  he 
dared  not  do  that,  for  fear  he  would  call  his  loans, 
whereupon  the  legislator  would  have  to  borrow 
funds  with  which  to  buy  his  breakfast  in  the  morn- 
ing ;  walk  back  to  Des  Moines,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
answer  PRESENT  when  the  roll  was  called.  Oh! 
no,  he  didn't  consult  his  banker  about  the  situation. 
He  was  afraid  to  do  that.  He  just  went  down  and 
howled  about  guaranteeing  the  deposits  100  cents  on 

244 


the  dollar;  yes,  he  was  terribly  worried  about  the 
depositors;  he  had  them  at  heart,  but  the  fact  that 
he,  himself,  was  involved  for  much  more  than  he 
could  ever  hope  to  pay  the  bank  didn't  bother  him 
much ;  all  he  was  interested  in  was  in  guaranteeing 
deposits.  He'd  heard  that  said  by  someone  at  some 
time  and  thought  it  would  make  good  meat  for  the 
hounds. 

His  attitude  toward  his  own  indebtedness,  in  my 
opinion,  was  the  real  test  as  to  whether  his  plea  for 
security  was  sincere,  or  whether  it  was  merely  a 
plea  (a  bill)  put  forth,  in  the  expectation  that  it 
might  bring  him  future  votes,  for  wasn't  the  public 
watching  that  Session? 

Didn't  the  newspapers  make  big  copy  of  it?  and 
the  public  being  fed  up  along  that  line,  began  to 
worry  some  more  about  the  safety  of  their  money 
in  this  bank  or  that?  Didn't  they  read  of  it  mostly 
every  evening,  and  wasn't  safety  of  their  funds 
brought  to  their  attention  almost  daily?  You  know 
where  Russia  is  located. 

Yes  sir,  the  farm  situation  bothered  them  a  great 
deal  too .  It  bothered  everybody  (including  the 
farmer).  Oh!  yes,  the  farmer  wanted  to  get  in  on 
that,  too. 

Yes,  the  farmer  has  suffered.  More  so  than  any 
other  line,  at  least  he  has  been  slower  in  recovering 
from  the  hectic  days  of  1919  and  the  few  years  pre- 
ceding that;  he  hasn't  had  a  fair  shake,  caused  by 
the  terrific  spread  between  the  price  he  receives 

245 


for  his  product  and  the    price  ultimately    charged 
for  the  finished  product. 

Recalls  to  mind  now  an  incident  that  occurred  here 
this  past  winter:  A  live  stock  buyer  at  this  point 
bot  some  steers  for  11  cents  per  pound ;  shipped  them 
to  Chicago  on  a  Tuesday  market,  selling  them  for 
11.85;  sold  to  what  is  known  as  a  speculator,  so- 
called,  who  held  them  over  until  Friday  of  that  same 
week  who  resold  them  to  a  packer  at  15.00. 

Now  then,  here's  the  producer  getting  11  cents 
for  them;  the  shipper  made  a  small  profit,  a  profit 
that  no  farmer  would  begrudge  him ;  and  the  specu- 
lator getting  S3. 15  per  hundred  profit,  with  an  ex- 
cellent fill  in  the  bargain.  What  price  will  the 
packer  be  compelled  to  ask  to  make  his  reasonable 
profit?  There's  the  rub  in  the  cattle  game,  too 
many  middle  men,  and  until  some  method  is  devised 
to  meet  that  situation,  agricultural  conditions  will 
not  show  much  improvement. 

With  present  day  improved  methods  of  agricul- 
ture, farming  has  been  made  much  easier.  With  the 
aid  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
and  the  various  Agricultural  Schools  thruout  the 
country  the  farmers  have,  for  the  past  ten,  yes 
twenty  years,  been  educated  to  better  farming 
methods;  urged  to  raise  more  crops;  make  two 
grains  of  wheat  grow  where  only  one  grew  before : 
have  a  steer  weighing  1,500  pounds  instead  of  1,200 
as  formerly;  ship  his  hogs  in,  weighing  250  pounds 

246 


instead  of  200  as  previously,  and  many  such  things 
as  that. 

He  was  educated  to  be  a  better  farmer;  the  gov- 
ernment and  everybody  else  was  trying  to  help  him, 
when  along  comes  so  eminent  a  personage  as  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  says  some  four 
weeks  ago,  that  the  only  thing  for  the  American 
Farmer  to  do  is  to  regulate  his  production  to  meet 
the  demand. 

Hadn't  he  been  taught  to  increase  his  production 
of  milk ;  how  to  improve  his  egg  crop  by  culling  some 
of  the  hens;  how  to  improve  here  and  there,  and 
didn't  he  follow  that  advise;  go  ahead  and  do  it, 
having  the  County  Agent  lend  his  every  assistance, 
and  then  be  told  to  regulate  his  production  to  fit 
the  demand?  Hadn't  the  farmer  put  himself  in 
shape  as  he  had  been  told  to  do?  Didn't  he  have  a 
big  herd  of  cows?  Didn't  he  raise  all  the  corn  he 
could?  Didn't  he  put  in  all  the  wheat  he  could,  ro- 
tating his  crops,  diversifying  his  farming,  and 
wasn't  he  in  fine  condition  now,  to  follow  the  in- 
structions of  educated  men,  higher  up,  when  all  at 
once  he  realized  the  predicament  he  was  in ;  already 
suffering,  and  then  be  told  to  regulate  production  to 
meet  the  demand? 

I've  been  in  personal  touch  with  the  farm  situa- 
tion and  every  farmer  has  my  sympathy,  but  sym- 
pathy will  not  cure  the  ills. 

I  cannot  help  but  feel  that  the  loss  of  confidence  in 
humankind  is  the  biggest  factor  in  bringing  about 

247 


the  present  agricultural  conditions,  conditions  that 
have  brought  ruin  and  havoc  to  many  a  good  man; 
and  it  is  my  personal  belief  that  the  biggest  factor 
required  to  restore  agriculture  to  its  position  before 
the  War  is  the  return  of  Man's  trust  in  Man ;  a  trust 
that  was  honored  and  respected,  but  a  Trust  that  has 
been  entirely  lost  sight  of  since  the  days  of  the 
World  War.  Irregardless  of  what  President  Coolidge 
might  suggest,  irregardless  of  what  any  Congres- 
sional body  might  do,  irregardless  of  what  any  Farm 
Union,  Farm  Bureau  or  other  Agricultural  Organi- 
zation may  see  fit  to  recommend,  yes,  irregardless  of 
all  of  that,  nothing  will  aid  more  in  restoring  better 
farming  conditions  than  the  return  of  man  to  the 
good  old  common  sense,  evident  previous  to  the 
bloody  days  of  1918  and  1919. 

Article  after  article  has  been  written;  speech 
after  speech  has  been  made;  argument  after  argu- 
ment has  been  put  forth ;  cure-alls  of  all  kinds  have 
been  recommended,  but  until  the  thought  "Do  unto 
others  as  you  would  have  them  do  unto  you"  is  again 
put  into  practice,  agriculture  will  remain  as  is.  The 
farmer  with  his  place  fully  paid  for,  making  a  little 
money ;  but  the  poor  devil  of  a  tenant  and  the  lad  on 
the  high  priced  farm,  partially  paid  for,  continuing 
to  suffer. 

Let  me  give  you  a  concrete  example  of  an  actual 
Iowa  Farmer's  situation. 

In  1920  Bill  Meyer  came  to  the  bank  and  ar- 
ranged for  a  loan.    Cattle  and  hogs  were  bringing 

248 


good  prices.  He  approached  the  banker  for  a  loan 
of  $2,250.00  wherewith  to  purchase  a  carload  of 
cattle  that  he  expected  to  feed.  "Well  now,"  the 
banker  said,  "the  banking  department  wants  us  to 
have  a  statement  on  file,  and  if  you'll  give  me  a 
statement  I'll  be  glad  to  talk  with  you  about  it. 

Of  course  Bill  Meyer  would  be  glad  to  give  a  state- 
ment and  did,  about  like  the  following : 


Assets. 

5  Horses  (value) 

$875.00 

11  Cows 

1,100.00 

8  Calves 

160.00 

7  Yearlings 

350.00 

10  Sows 

300.00 

80  Spring  Pigs 

1,600.00 

Machinery 

1,500.00 

160  acres  of  land 

20,000.00 

$25,885.00 

Liabilities. 
Note  to  Bank  $2,000.00 

Mortgage  on  Farm  14,000.00 

Net  worth  9,885.00 


$25,885.00 

Bill  and  the  banker  went  over  the  statement  after 
having  it  made  up  and  the  banker  decided  he  would 
let  him  have  the  additional  $2,250.00  for  the  load  of 

249 


steers,  which  they  promptly  proceeded  to  do,  the 
farmer  Bill  signing  the  note,  getting  credit  for  the 
amount,  and  leaving  the  bank  feeling  he  enjoyed  a 
nice,  liberal  line  of  credit  and  that  Mr.  Banker  was 
a  'ell  of  a  good  fellow  for  letting  him  have  the 
money. 

He  proceeded  to  Chicago  or  Kansas  City  and 
bought  the  steers,  shipping  them  in.  The  steers 
looked  fine,  looked  like  they  were  worth  the  money, 
and  would  in  all  probability  make  some  money  for 
the  feeder. 

Old  Bill  took  good  care  of  the  steers,  feeding  them 
regularly  and  diligently;  would  weigh  them  up  oc- 
casionally and  tell  the  good  wife  how  much  money 
he  had  made  up  to  this  time ;  that  in  about  3  weeks 
they  would  be  ready  for  market  and  they'd  have  a 
lot  of  profit. 

Three  weeks  later  came  and  with  it  the  shipment 
of  steers  to  Chicago.  The  load  brought  Bill  §4,- 
100.00,  representing  a  mighty  nice  profit  to  him, 
after  having  paid  Mr.  Banker  some  S2,290.00  cov- 
ering the  note  and  interest  for  the  90  days. 

Old  Bill  was  happy,  so  was  his  wife.  They'd 
worked  hard  feeding  the  cattle,  and  felt  they  were 
entitled  to  a  mighty  nice  profit,  which  they  had  in 
their  bank.  The  Banker  was  happy;  he'd  made  a 
good  loan;  got  it  back  with  a  nice  rate  of  interest, 
and  conceded  that  Bill  was  a  mighty  good  farmer 
and  a  good  cattle  man  and  decided  if  Bill  ever  want- 

250 


ed  another  loan  for  cattle  he'd  be  glad  to  accommo- 
date him. 

Spring  of  1921  came  and  of  course  Bill  started 
talking  cattle  with  Mr.  Banker  again,  referring  with 
a  certain  amount  of  justifiable  pride,  to  the  fact  that 
he  had  made  a  mighty  nice  profit  on  the  last  load  and 
that  he  felt  if  he  got  into  the  cattle  game  a  little 
heavier  this  year,  say  with  two  or  three  loads,  he 
could  make  a  lot  of  money,  and  pay  his  profits  on  the 
other  $2,000.00  note  the  banker  held.  This  sounded 
good  to  the  banker. 

Bill  and  the  banker  met  at  various  times  that 
spring  and  early  summer  and  every  time  they  met 
old  Bill  would  bring  up  the  subject  of  the  cattle ;  that 
the  pastures  were  very  fine  and  that  the  price  was 
pretty  good  and  that  he  believed  he'd  ought  to  get 
ready  to  go  in  and  buy  them.  He  told  the  banker 
he  was  a  damside  better  fixed  this  year  than  he  ever 
was ;  that  he  was  worth  about  twice  as  much  as  he 
was  last  year  and  that  he  thought  his  credit  should 
be  good  for  about  three  loads  this  time,  to  which  the 
banker  replied : 

"Come  in  sometime  when  I'm  not  quite  so  busy 
and  I'll  talk  the  matter  over  with  you.  You  won't 
object  to  giving  me  a  new  statement,  you  see,  we 
want  to  keep  our  file  up  to  snuff." 

"Why,  sure,  I'll  be  glad  to  give  you  a  new  one  and 
by  Gosh,  you'll  see  I'm  worth  damnear  twice  what 
I  was  last  year."  This  latter  conversation  took  place 
during  the  summer. 

251 


After  Bill  had  some  of  the  hay  put  up,  he  felt  he 
could  get  away  from  the  farm  for  about  a  half  a  day, 
so  went  to  town  to  see  his  friend  the  banker. 

"Hello  Bill,"  said  the  banker,  "are  you  in  to  see 
about  those  cattle?" 

"You  bet  your  life  I  am.  I've  been  watching  the 
market  pretty  close  and  they're  down  a  little  and 
right  now's  the  time  to  buy." 

So  Mr.  Banker  gets  his  statement  file  out  and 
here's  a  copy  of  the  new  statement : 

Assets. 


5  Horses 

$875.00 

11  Cows 

1,300.00 

6  Calves 

150.00 

7  2-year  olds 

490.00 

12  Sows 

350.00 

92  Spring  Pigs 

1,550.00 

Machinery 

1,500.00 

160  acres  of  land 

28,000.00 

$34,215.00 

Liabilities. 
Note  to  Bank  $2,000.00 

Mortgage  on  Farm  14,000.00 

Net  worth  18,215.00 


$34,215.00 

(Conversation  follows  verbatim) 
Banker :  "Listen  Bill,  do  you  realize  you're  worth 

252 


just    about    twice  what  your  statement  last  year 
showed?" 

Bill :  "I  know  damwell  I  am,  didn't  I  tell  you  that 
all  spring?" 

Banker :  "Let's  see  here  now  where  this  difference 
comes  in?" 

Bill :  "I'll  tell  you  what  makes  the  difference,  you 
see  my  farm  is  worth  $175.00  an  acre  now  and  I 
only  listed  it  at  $125.00  last  year." 

Banker:  "I  know,  but  do  you  think  it's  worth 
$175.00?" 

Bill:   "You  damright  it  is,  old    John    Schmitt's 
offered  me  that  a  good  many  times,  and  you  know 
he's  a  damold  tight  cuss.    It  must  be  worth  it,  or  he 
wouldn't  offer  me  that  price." 
(Editor's  note.    Remember  the  1919  land  boom?) 

Banker:  "Well!  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do  with 
you,  if  you  want  to  go  in  and  buy  three  loads,  we'll 
fix  you  up,  and  here's  hoping  you  make  ten  times  as 
much  money  as  you  did  last  year." 

Bill :  "By  Golly,  that's  fine.  I'll  go  to  Chicago  to- 
morrow morning.  I'll  see  if  I  can  get  a  pass  with 
Mike  Kilburg  (regular  shipper). 

So  Bill  went  home,  told  the  fraulien  what  a  'ell 
of  a  fine  fellow  the  banker  was.  Threw  out  his  chest 
and  said  to  the  wife  "You  know  that  fellow  wouldn't 
give  me  the  money,  not  that  much  anyway  if  he 
didn't  know  I  was  damwell  fixed."  The  wife  agreed 
with  him  and  hoped  they  would  do  well. 

Bill  went  to  Chicago,  bought  three  loads,  paid  17 

253 


cents  a  pound  for  them  and  shipped  them  home,  giv- 
ing his  check  for  something  in  excess  of  §6,000.00. 

The  cattle  arrived,  were  unloaded  and  driven  out 
to  Bill's  farm.  The  next  morning  he  called  on  the 
banker,  told  him  what  a  fine  bunch  of  steers  he  had, 
what  they  cost,  what  a  fine  trip  he  had,  how  he  had 
gotten  a  hold  of  some  pretty  good  beer  down  there, 
and  all  in  all  Bill  was  happy. 

The  banker  drew  up  the  note,  had  Bill  sign  it,  and 
gave  him  credit  to  his  account,  so  the  check  would 
be  covered  when  it  would  come  in  a  few  days  later. 

Bill  had  the  cattle  about  40  days  and  the  market 
began  to  slip.  He  kept  feeding  them  up  in  mighty 
good  shape  tho'  and  felt  the  market  would  react. 

In  60  days  the  market  was  worse.  Bill  got  a  little 
worried  about  what  the  cattle  would  make  him  in 
the  line  of  profit.  The  market  slipped  every  day, 
and  every  day  Bill  would  realize  that  if  he  shipped 
the  cattle  in  now,  they  wouldn't  bring  enough  to  pay 
him  anything  for  the  corn  and  grain  he  had  fed  into 
them,  say  nothing  of  the  pasture. 

Still  the  market  kept  slipping  and  Bill  began  to 
realize  that  if  he  shipped  them  in  now  they  wouldn't 
bring  enough  to  pay  the  banker  the  note  he  had 
signed. 

Still  they  kept  on  slipping,  until  one  day  in  despe- 
ration, after  having  fed  them  about  80  days,  Bill 
goes  to  the  banker  and  wants  to  see  him  in  the  back 
room.  He  didn't  feel  like  talking  out  in  front,  where 
someone  might  hear  him.     To  the  back  room  they 

254 


went.  (Back  rooms  have  been  used  considerable  by 
every  banker  since  that  time.) 

Bill:  "Say  Boss,  (he  was  beginning  to  call  him 
Boss  already)  I  don't  know  what  the  'ell  I'm  going 
to  do  with  them  cattle.  The  market's  gone  all  to  'ell 
and  by  golly,  I  can't  ship  them  in  on  this  kind  of  a 
market.  I  wouldn't  get  enough  to  pay  the  note,  say 
nothing  of  my  feed.  What  do  you  think  I  ought  to 
do  with  them.  I'd  like  to  hold  them  over  until  next 
year.    I  believe  that's  the  only  thing  for  me  to  do. 

Banker :  "It  does  look  terrible,  don't  it  Bill,  but  I 
hardly  know  what  to  tell  you." 

Bill :  "Well  by  Gosh,  if  we  ship  them  now,  I'm  go- 
ing to  lose  a  lot  of  money  and  you  know  Kate  and  I 
work  damhard  for  it." 

Banker:  "Yes  that's  true  Bill  and  I'd  hate  to  see 
you  lose  a  dime,  so  if  you  feel  you  ought  to  keep  them 
probably  you'd  better  do  that." 

So  Bill  went  home,  told  the  wife  what  a  'ell  of  a 
fine  fellow  the  banker  was  and  how  he  was  glad  to 
let  them  keep  the  cattle  over  until  the  next  year. 

Until  the  next  year  Bill  fed  the  steers,  kept  them 
looking  pretty  good  until  grass  time  came,  when  he 
turned  them  out  in  the  hope  that  the  market  would 
improve;  for  he  knew  they  would  put  on  plenty  of 
gain;  for  weren't  they  a  fine  bunch  of  steers? 

Bill  had  fed  them  so  much  and  taken  such  good 
care  of  them  all  winter,  that  he  actually  loved  them, 
even  tho'  today  they  were  worth  only  9  cents  after 
him  having  paid  17  cents  per  pound  for  them. 

255 


Late  summer  came,  Bill  had  the  cattle  looking  fine 
but  the  market  was  all  shot  to  pieces.  All  he  could 
hope  to  get  for  them  in  Chicago  was  7  cents.  Bill 
was  between  the  devil  and  the  deep  sea. 

Some  of  the  mortgages  on  neighboring  farms  were 
being  foreclosed  and  Bill  commenced  to  scare  just  a 
little.  Here  he  had  fed  those  cattle  more  than  a  year, 
paid  17  cents  a  pound  for  them  and  now  was  able  to 
get  but  7  cents  for  them,  and  the  freight  higher  than 
ever.  What  was  he  to  do?  Go  to  the  banker,  of 
course,  which  he  did,  where  the  following  conversa- 
tion took  place : 

Bill:  "Say  Boss,  (Bill  still  thought  he  was  a  real 
guy)  the  cattle  market  looks  tough,  don't  it?" 

Banker:  "It  sure  does  Bill,  I've  been  watching  it 
a  little  myself  lately,  and  I've  thought  of  you  a  good 
many  times  the  last  few  weeks."  (You  see,  he  was 
worrying  a  little,  too.) 

Bill :  "By  heck,  I'm  going  to  ship  those  cattle  if  I 
lose  everything  I  got?" 

Banker:  "I  don't  believe  I'd  do  that  Bill.  I  be- 
lieve I'd  hold  them  over  another  year  and  you  may 
come  out  yet.  (The  banker  knew  the  steers  couldn't 
pay  the  note.) 

So  the  boys  talked  it  over  for  an  hour  and  agreed 
to  hold  them.  Bill  felt  he  had  plenty  of  feed  to 
handle  them,  more  or  less  rough  feed,  and  felt  he 
could  get  along  alright. 

Winter  came  and  the  steers  developed  a  terrific 
appetite,  with  the  result  that  poor  Bill  was  getting 

256 


low  on  ieea  and  again  went  to  the  banker,  laying  his 
cards  on  the  table.    Ways  and  means  were  discussed. 

Of  course,  the  steers  could  not  be  allowed  to  starve 
to  death,  so  Mr.  Banker  advanced  §1100.00  to  buy 
feed  for  them,  Bill  signing  another  note,  having 
previously  renewed  the  $6, 000.000  note,  adding  the 
interest  to  it.  You  see,  he  hadn't  made  a  profit  and 
could  not  pay  the  interest  until  he  did. 

Another  summer  came,  the  steers  were  growing 
big,  grew  more  or  less  out  of  shape,  wouldn't  bring 
anywhere  near  the  top,  couldn't  gain  a  great  deal, 
with  the  result  that  in  the  early  summer  Bill  shipped 
them  out  to  Chicago  and  returned  with  a  check  for 
$3,800.00,  and  was  Bill  sick?  I'm  not  going  to  tell 
you  how  sick  the  banker  was  with  his  $6,360.00  note 
and  another  for  $1,100.00  with  unpaid  interest. 

Bill  goes  to  the  bank.  Explains  his  predicament, 
and  what  can  Mr.  Banker  do  but  take  a  second  mort- 
gage on  the  farm  for  the  difference,  $4074.60. 

Then  along  comes  the  bank  examiner. 

"Don't  you  know  you  can't  loan  any  money  on  a 
second  mortgage?"  he'd  say. 

"You  bet,  I  know  that  as  well  as  you  do,  but  I'm  a 
damside  better  off  with  that  second  mortgage  on 
that  fellow's  farm  than  with  nothing  at  all." 

"What  do  you  figure  his  farm  is  worth,"  asked  the 
Examiner. 

"He  lists  it  at  $175.00  an  acre,  it's  a  pretty  good 
farm,  not  far  from  town,"  replied  Mr.  Banker. 

Time  went  on.    Land  values  dropped  50  per  cent. 

257 


Of  course,  interest  had  to  be  paid  on  the  first  mort- 
gage as  well  as  on  the  banker's  second. 

Hog  prices  and  prices  of  all  agricultural  products 
had  slipped  to  the  end  of  the  toboggan  and  poor  old 
Bill  couldn't  meet  payment  of  interest  on  the  first 
mortgage,  so  Mr.  Banker,  to  protect  himself,  paid 
that  interest. 

Another  year  rolled  by.  The  crop  was  very  poor, 
and  not  much  of  that.  What  the  devil  was  the  Bank- 
er going  to  do?  What  the  devil  could  he  do?  He 
wouldn't  dare  pay  another  year's  interest  on  the  first 
mortgage  and  didn't. 

The  Insurance  Company  that  held  the  loan 
promptly  foreclosed,  and  here  sat  Mr.  Banker,  wiser 
and  money  out  of  the  Undivided  Profits  Account,  all 
on  account  of  a  few  steers,  and  who  was  to  blame? 
Certainly  not  poor  Bill,  so  naturally  the  public 
blamed  the  banker.  Wasn't  he  the  damfool  tho'?  so 
they  claimed.    I  wonder  who  that  Banker  was? 

Pages  and  pages  of  like  incidents  might  be  writ- 
ten on  account  of  it. 

Any  man  not  familiar  with  agricultural  conditions 
over  the  above  period  can  readily  see  why  the  Farm- 
er feels  a  grievance,  not  only  against  the  banker  but 
against  the  world  in  general. 

Hadn't  he  lost  his  farm?  and  wasn't  he  still  owing 
the  banker  a  considerable  sum,  no  doubt  charged  off 
by  the  banker,  but  still  carried  in  the  hope  that  some 
day  Bill  may  get  to  hitting  and  make  some  money, 
when  Bill  would  be  able  to  pay  the  notes?     Fine 

258 


thing  for  Bill  to  look  forward  to?  And  the  banker's 
prospects  not  much  better,  unless  confidence  appears 
on  the  scene. 

This  same  return  of  confidence  holds  good  also 
with  every  bank  in  the  agricultural  section.  If  you 
are  a  depositor  of  a  bank,  your  bank  will  be  just 
what  YOU  make  it.  Get  that  old  confidence  back; 
patronize  your  banker  and  you  can  be  assured  that 
your  bank  will  be  a  good,  strong  bank  to  do  business 
with.  If  you  ignore  every  little  yarn  that's  peddled 
to  you ;  pay  no  attention  to  the  bolshevistic  element ; 
go  about  your  work  making  money  for  yourself,  you 
can  be  assured  your  bank  will  be  for  you ;  will  be  a 
safe  place  for  your  money,  for  isn't  it  true  that  for 
many  years  the  Banker  has  made  money  for  his 
institution?  Isn't  it  true  that  he  must  have  ability 
or  he  couldn't  have  made  money?  And  isn't  it  true 
that  when  a  man  makes  money,  he's  a  success,  and 
that  the  bank  making  money  cannot  help  but  be  a 
success,  and  don't  you  want  to  do  business  with  a 
successful  bank?  Isn't  it  true  that  your  banker  has 
worked  out  a  good  many  deals  he  was  interested  in? 
And  isn't  it  safe  to  assume  he  will  work  out  the  bal- 
ance he  may  have?    Why !  of  course  it  is. 


259 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  winter  passed;  another  March  1st,  one  of 
those  hectic  days  came;  a  liberal  supply  of  Coin  of 
the  Realm  was  shipped  in,  in  anticipation  of  cash 
requirements.  You  see,  we  were  getting  used  to  ped- 
ding  currency,  filthy  lucre ;  some  people  didn't  believe 
a  draft  would  serve  the  same  purpose,  no  doubt 
they'd  sooner  smell  the  money. 

Our  deposits  were  again  reduced ;  you  see  we  were 
liquidating.  Many  of  them  wanted  their  money ; 
they  were  liquidating  their  assets  and  compelled 
us  to  liquidate  ours  also.  Naturally  you'd  hate  to 
see  this  withdrawal  and  that,  but  withdraw  they 
would.  We  were  trying  to  carry  on  an  orderly  process 
of  liquidation,  without  pressing  this  local  man  or 
that;  without  working  a  hard-ship  on  the  com- 
munity, and  all  of  the  time  not  one  legitimate  re- 
quest for  a  loan  was  turned  down.  We  were  always 
ready  and  on  the  job;  glad  to  assist;  the  community 
was  in  dire  need  of  assistance,  and  when  some  man 
entitled  to  a  reasonable  line  of  credit  needed  it, 
where'd  he  go  and  get  it? 

To  the  Bellevue  State,  ofcourse.  I  would  take  his 
statement,  well  as  I  knew  him,  see  that  he  was  en- 
titled to  help,  and  glad  to  be  of  service. 

260 


There  I  am  again  using  the  word  "SERVICE", 
Yes,  sir,  we  were  the  real  community  asset.  De- 
posits left  with  us  were  being  used  in  our  com- 
munity to  assist  the  other  fellow  in  making  money 
and  incidentally  making  some  for  ourselves. 

Our  deposits  were  not  sent  east  to  buy  Govern- 
ment bonds  and  other  bonds ;  they  staid  right  here 
in  the  community.  Four  dollars  out  of  every  five 
wasn't  sent  East  to  help  build  up  the  automobile 
business;  the  Railroad  business;  the  Apartment 
House  business  or  the  Electric  business.  We  felt 
we  were  entitled  to  the  confidence  of  the  community 
but  couldn't  seem  to  bring  it  back. 

The  writer  on  that  March  1st  was  engaged  in 
writing  more  Deeds,  Mortgages  and  notes  in  ad- 
dition to  his  regular  work,  with  the  net  result  that 
our  time  did  show  an  increase  for  the  day,  the  first 
increase  in  time  registered  since  1921.  The  Gang 
and  I  were  very  optimistic.  Apparently  the  break 
was  for  us,  the  first  in  a  good  many  years,  for  didn't 
our  time  show  a  decrease  every  March  1st  prior? 

Along  came  another  Bull  sale.  Everybody  was 
pretty  sick.  Bull  meat  was  no  longer  in  demand. 
Folks  have  quit  eating  sausages,  probably  due  to 
the  expression-"Bologne".  With  no  rent  for  the 
farm  for  the  year  previous,  what  was  to  be  done? 
You  tell  me. 

A  drainage  ditch  was  in  the  process  of  being  put 
in  south  of  town.  Would  anyone  buy  the  farm  under 

261 


those  circumstances?  Hadn't  the  flood  last  year 
taken  all  the  crop  and  hadn't  a  second  crop  been  put 
in  and  taken  away  by  the  flood  ?  Yes,  the  going  was 
getting  tougher  and  tougher.  What  would  you  have 
done  under  those  circumstances? 

I  should  have  hired  a  flock  of  Mexican  Matadors 
and  thrown  on  a  real  party  on  that  magnificent  Bull 
farm.  —  You  see,  those  fellows  are  different.  They 
kill  the  Bull  —  they  don't  throw  it  —  like  — 

I  was  able  to  interest  a  Chicago  business  man  in 
the  purchase  of  the  Bull  farm,  including  the  bulls. 
He  came  to  Bellevue.  It  rained  terribly  that  April 
night.  I  knew  the  Maquoketa  River  would  leave 
it's  banks  that  night  and  certainly  could  not  afford 
to  take  this  prospect  down  to  the  farm  the  next 
morning.  I  staid  with  him  at  the  bank  until  4  bells 
in  the  morning,  talking  farm  to  him.  He  wanted  the 
place  for  a  summer  home ;  a  sort  of  a  week-end 
play  ground;  where  he  could  invite  his  friends  to 
spend  a  little  time  with  him  or)  week-ends.  Hr 
wanted  to  view  the  farm  the  following  morning, 
saying  he  had  to  get  back  to  the  city  by  night. 

Didn't  I  have  to  tell  him  I  would  have  to  be  out 
of  town  in  the  morning  and  could  not  take  him 
down.  Yes,  I  told  him  everything  to  get  rid  of  him, 
for  I  couldn't  in  the  face  of  the  coming  flood 
take  him  down  and  show  him  over  the  farm.  Ye 
Gods!  even  the  elements  were  against  me. 

Many  a  man  would  have  lost  all  his  nerve  and 

262 


guts  under  those  circumstances  but  still  I  staid 
with  the  ship,  recalling  the  expression  used  by 
Frank  at  Farley  many  years  ago.  The  prospect 
returned  to  Chicago  on  the  early  morning  train. 
I  was  glad  he  did,  hoping  that  at  some  future 
date  I  could  interest  him  in  the  purchase  of  the 
farm.  The  future  date  came,  but  he  didn't  seem 
to  be  interested  anymore  and  would  not  consider 
buying  it. 

Shortly  prior  to  that  time  we  had  gotten  pos- 
session of  a  120  acre  farm  in  Clay  County,  Iowa, 
to  all  appearances  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  land 
I  have  ever  seen.  Some  previous  owner  had  been 
offered,  during  the  1919  boom,  $337.50  per  acre 
for  the  farm.  With  every  effort  I  wanted  to  dis- 
pose of  it  at  $125.00  per  acre,  sufficient  to  let  us 
out  of  the  deal  entirely,  but  was  unsuccessful.  I 
advertised  it;  had  bankers  and  real  estate  agents 
working  on  it,  but  no  one  seemed  to  want  it.  No 
doubt  all  folks  wanted  was  Cash,  for  you  couldn't 
give  anything  else  away. 

Reminds  me  of  another  deal,  where  I  tried  to 
sell  some  timber  with  a  little  bottom  land,  asking 
him  what  he  would  pay.  He  said  he  didn't  believe 
he  would  pay  much  for  it.  He  looked  it  over.  Said 
he  didn't  want  it.  I  asked  him  whether  he's  take 
it  if  we  gave  it  to  him  for  nothing,  and  he  said 
he  didn't  believe  he  would.    Good  old  Iowa  Land. 

Later   I   sold  it  tho'   cleaning  up  the  line.   Just 

263 


before  making  the  sale,  and  while  making  an  in- 
spection, I  discovered  a  still  on  the  premises.  The 
shack  containing  the  still  contained  several  shot 
guns,   one   revolver   and   a  number  of   magazines. 

The  shack  was  locked  with  a  combination  lock, 
which  I  knocked  from  the  door  with  an  auto  ham- 
mer. The  man  accompanying  me  advised  me  not 
to  do  so,  for  someone  hiding  around  a  tree  might 
shoot  my  head  off,  but  just  then  I  didn't  care 
much  about  my  head  and  was  willing  to  take  my 
chances.  Here  I  was  a  banker,  making  an  inspection 
of  this  timber  land,  and  finding  a  still. 

Some  days  later  the  local  paper  carried  an  account 
of  my  finding  a  still,  which  account  the  County  At- 
torney read,  and  immediately  came  over  interview- 
ing me  as  to  why  I  did  not  report  it ;  stating  it  was 
every  citizens  duty  to  report  such  cases.  I  asked 
him  what  he  thought  the  duties  of  a  banker  were, 
and  he  wouldn't  commit  himself.  My  reply  was  that 
I  wasn't  getting  paid  for  running  down  vile-smel- 
ling plants,  and  that  I  thought  such  a  job  was  more 
in  his  line. 

Previous  to  the  spring  of  1927  the  holder  of  a 
first  mortgage  on  a  home  occupied  by  a  man  who  was 
indebted  to  us,  saw  fit  to  foreclose,  writing  us, 
what  did  we  wish  to  do  about  the  matter  since  we 
had  a  second  mortgage?  My  reply  was  to  go  right 
ahead  and  foreclose,  intending  to  purchase  their 
Sheriff  Certificate  of  sale,   when  obtained,  which 

264 


was  subsequently  done,  with  the  result  that  today 
the  home  is  carried  as  0.  R. 

In  trying  to  arrive  at  a  fair  compromise 
adjustment  of  his  line  with  him,  arrangements  were 
made  during  a  hurried  trip  to  Des  Moines,  for  him 
to  pay  a  specified  amount  of  rent  each  month.  Part 
of  the  first  month  (summer  of  1927)  was  paid. 
No  rent  was  received  during  the  redemption  period ; 
the  owner  occupied  the  house  for  7  months  after; 
promised  to  pay  rent,  a  specified  amount,  but  was 
hard  up ;  would  get  to  hitting  soon  and  would  pay 
up  the  arrears.  Our  decency  in  the  matter  cost  us 
a  lot  of  money,  for  in  December  he  moved  out, 
entirely  unknown  to  us.  Wasn't  that  fine  reci- 
procity ? 

Being  Chairman  of  the  Road  Committee  I  was 
active  in  the  spring  of  1927  graveling  a  stretch  of 
road  leading  into  our  little  town  from  the  North- 
west, having  the  gravel  hauled,  spread,  and  keeping 
it  dragged  myself,  with  an  ordinary  road  drag  at- 
tached to  the  back  of  the  car.  Again  you  heard 
many  kicks.  This  fellow  would  say  "That  dam  stuff 
never  will  make  a  road"  "If  that  holds  up  I'll  eat 
your  shirt"  and  many  such  expressions.  The  road's 
there  today  and  speaks  for  itself. 

That  spring  I  loaned  $2000.00  to  a  certain  man 
who  wanted  it  for  90  days  only.  The  90  days  were 
up,  he  was  sent  a  notice  of  the  maturity  of  the  note. 
Called  and  wanted  to  renew  it.    I  advised  him  of 

265 


his  statement  that  he  positively  would  pay  it  in 
90  days.  He  didn't  like  it.  Thought  a  90  day  loan 
would  be  good  for  90  years  I  suppose.  I  insisted  upon 
payment  as  agreed.  He  paid  it  the  following  week. 
Went  out  among  some  of  his  old  neighgbors,  his 
brothers  and  sisters,  bellyached  about  having  to 
pay  the  note ;  said  we  must  be  awfully  hard  up ;  and 
didn't  believe  we  were  good,  with  the  result  that 
again  we  lost  a  lot  of  business.  I  had  many  such 
cases,  and  so  have  you. 

About  that  time  I  was  considered  a  logical  suc- 
cessor to  the  office  from  which  a  member  of  the 
State  Board  of  Conservation  was  about  to  retire  to 
assume  the  duties  as  a  Highway  Commissioner.  You 
see,  they  needed  good  men  on  the  Highway  Com- 
mission, and  the  Governor  saw  fit  to  name  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Conservation  to  that  office.  I 
had  plenty  of  conserving  to  do  however,  trying  to 
conserve  our  deposits,  and  kept  on  that  job,  rather 
than  the  other. 

June — that  month  when  the  farmer  is  cultivating 
his  corn  —  June  —  when  the  flapper  has  visions  of 
a  bridal  veil,  brought  me  to  Chicago  to  attend  to 
the  matter  of  a  note  that  the  maker  apparently 
had  entirely  forgotten,  necessitating  my  staying  in 
the  city  for  two  days. 

Upon  arriving  at  my  room  at  the  Great  Northern 
Hotel  a  telegram  was  handed  me  "Would  I  attend  a 
meeting  of  the  creditors  of  the  Massey  Piano  Com- 

266 


pany  in  behalf  of  the  Rauworth  Piano  Co.  ?  Again  I 
was  called  on  to  deliver  (gratis).  I  was  glad  to  of- 
course;  glad  to  be  of  SERVICE. 

The  meeting  of  the  creditors  was  conducted  by  a 
representative  of  the  Steinway  Company.  Mr. 
Massey  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  was  present  and  stated 
his  predicament  furnishing  a  statement  of  his  con- 
dition to  be  perused  by  the  creditors  present,  some 
twenty  firms  being  represented. 

I  was  glad  to  attend  in  behalf  of  the  Rauworth 
Company,  who  had  previously  sold  a  considerable 
number  of  pianos  to  Massey,  some  on  credit.  The 
Rauworth  Company  a  short  time  previous  had  dis- 
counted some  of  the  Massey  paper  with  me.  You 
see,  I  had  a  vital  interest  in  Massey 's  condition. 

The  statements  made  didn't  sound  good;  the 
statements  delivered  black  on  white  didn't  look  good, 
so  upon  my  return  home  I  insisted  that  the  Massey 
paper  we  had  be  replaced  with  paper  of  other 
makers  which  was  done  that  very  day. 

Creditors  meetings  Were  the  order  of  the  day. 

About  two  weeks  following  the  above  meeting, 
upon  opening  the  mail  one  morning  I  received  an 
unsigned  communication  —  stating  that  the  credit- 
ors of  the  Rauworth  Grand  Piano  Company  of 
Bellevue,  Iowa,  would  meet  at  Bellevue  some  ten 
days  hence.  I  didn't  quite  get  it,  since  it  was  un- 
signed and  felt  possibly  some  bird  was  kidding  me. 
However,  that  advanced  date  came  and  I  recognized 

267 


some  men  in  the  industry  walking  by  our  little 
bank,  so  assumed  there  must  be  something  to  the 
notice  I  had  received  some  ten  days  previous. 

Up  to  the  factory  I  drove  —  sure  enough  —  here 
was  a  crowd  —  a  crowd  called  to  order  for  the 
purpose  of  talking  over  the  situation.  An  emergen- 
cy existed  —  which  plan  was  the  better  to  follow? 

Ye  Gods!  I  felt  the  Piano  business  must  be  a  'ell 
of  a  business. 

After  due  consideration  it  was  decided  the  busi- 
ness should  be  operated  under  a  Creditors  Agree- 
ment —  I  was  getting  pretty  sick  —  I  couldn't  help 
but  think  of  that  $15,000.00  represented  by  two 
notes  of  the  Company  we  had;  one  past  clue,  and 
the  other  about  to  mature.  Naturally  you'd  hate 
to  sign  a  Creditors  Agreement  deferring  payment 
on  such  a  large  amount  of  money  for  two  years, 
wouldn't  you?  I  hated  it  very  much — but,  in  the 
interest  of  all  concerned  and  to  allow  the  plant  to 
continue  operations  many  of  the  creditors  agreed 
to,  and  did,  sign  such  an  agreement.  And  so — things 
at  the  little  pet  factory  went  merrily  on  again. 

Summer  came  late ;  farmers  were  late  getting  their 
crops  in ;  the  boys  on  the  bottom  couldn't  get  on  on 
account  of  the  high  water.  The  boys  on  the  upland 
were  very  pessimistic,  for  why  shouldn't  they  be? 
Wasn't  everybody  else  getting  to  be  a  pessimist? 
The  crops  were  slow  coming  up,  spring  was  too  wet. 
Finally   it    did   come,    and    so   did   the   grubs,    and 

268 


from  that  time  to  the  time  corn  usually  matures 
it  was  a  case  of  the  grub-worm  eating  the  root 
faster  than  it  could  grow,  and  the  root  trying  to 
grow  faster  than  the  worm  could  take  it,  the  upshot 
of  the  whole  thing  being  that  our  community  had 
no  corn  when  fall  came. 

The  summer  of  1927  was  unkind  to  us ;  folks  still 
talking;  the  infamous  campaign,  started  in  1922, 
was  still  on.  You  know,  every  town  has  its  pigmy 
brained  pusillanimous  cipher,  destitute  of  public 
spirit;  who  with  a  sneaking  puerile  vocabulary  tries 
to  discount  the  efforts  of  all  community  builders. 
Your  community  has  one,  we  had  several,  one  espe- 
cially. 

Try  as  we  would  our  deposits  continued  on  the 
downgrade,  and  yet,  we,  trying  to  meet  every  legiti- 
mate demand  for  a  loan,  and  doing  so.  You  bet,  our 
funds  were  available  to  the  folks  of  this  community 
and  that's  where  we  placed  them;  altho  many  folks 
thought  we  weren't  a  safe  place  to  deal  with.  Had 
they  used  a  little  common  sense,  they  could  well 
have  known  that  to  meet  these  requirements  cash 
was  needed,  and  we  always  had  it,  but  they  kept 
pecking  away  at  the  cash,  pecking  and  pecking 
until  the  day  would  have  to  come  that  a  reckoning 
must  be  had;  a  day  of  reckoning  that  would  be 
much  more  severe  on  the  community  than  the  pre- 
vious day  of  reckoning  March  1st  1920  was.  They 
didn't  stop  to  think  of  that  tho.  They  were  insane 
with  fear;  kept  so  by  some  pusillanimous  cipher. 

269 


My  efforts  to  maintain  were  scoffed  at,  by  the 
scoffer,  who  stood  on  the  highway  of  human 
progress  and  hissed.  No  leadership  was  his,  for  he 
had  no  goal;  all  paths  to  him  have  blind  ends,  his 
destination  is  never  certain.  What  is  he,  but  a 
living  negative,  denying  the  very  miracle  to  which 
he  owed  his  existence?  He  is  the  serpent  of  every 
Eden,  and  all  who  listened  to  him  lost  their  patri- 
mony of  human  happiness.  Worshipping  no  creature 
but  himself  he  does  not  hesitate  to  assume  the 
prerogatives  of  God  himself. 

Yes  folks,  happy  am  I,  not  in  abusing  my  fellow 
man,  but  in  passing  on  to  you  my  personal  opinion 
of  slanderous  gossip,  an  opinion,  I  think,  many  and 
many  a  person  must  agree  with. 

All  of  us  possess  a  certain  sense  of  beauty  and 
thought.  Does  the  scandal-monger  have  any?  Do 
his  ears  have  any  but  for  scandal?  He  hates  the 
rose,  but  adores  the  louse  that  crawls  up  its  stem 
to  destroy.  He  despises  the  song  of  the  bird  to  its 
nestling,  but  glorifies  the  caw  of  the  carrion  crow, 
for  putridity  is  its  call.  He  would  rather  wallow  in 
a  sewer  than  tread  the  waters  of  a  spring.  Every 
community  has  one  or  more.  You  have  one  in  your 
section,  we  have  them  here,  and  until  Eternity 
they  shall  exist. 

Again  another  Fall  appeared  with  more  graveling 
done  on  another  road,  the  result  of  my  activites 
in  purchasing  a  drag  line  outfit,  paid  by  personal 

270 


subscriptions,  solicited  by  myself,  using  local  creek 
gravel.  "Do  you  think  that  machine  will  do  the 
work,  I  don't"  was  heard  many  a  time.  The  machine 
worked  and  again  the  critic  was  busy.  I  was  an 
enthusiast  for  good  roads,  spent  much  time  and  a  lot 
of  my  own  money  to  get  the  ball  arollin'.  I  was  told 
of  a  statement  made,  that  I  must  have  got  a  good 
commission  for  buying  the  machine,  when  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  it  was  purchased  at  Dealer's  prices. 
Again  I  got  crticism,  unmerited,  but  got  to  a  point 
where  I  didn't  give  a  dam.    Let  'em  talk. 

That  Fall  "4  per  cent  and  no  worry"  was  heard 
over  the  Radio.  Business  was  solicited.  Am  mention- 
ing this  simply  to  show  to  what  length  advertising 
had  been  stretched.  You  heard  it  and  so  did  every 
banker.    You  didn't  like  it,  neither  I  did. 

Live  stock  receipts  were  small ;  prices  went  down ; 
farmers  had  to  have  corn,  and  where  were  they 
going  for  help  in  paying  for  it.  To  us,  ofcourse. 
They  simply  had  to  have  corn  to  fatten  the  hogs, 
and  at  least  one  bank  in  the  town  had  to  help.  For 
hadn't  the  corn  crop  been  a  complete  failure  ?  Hadn't 
the  summer  been  too  dry  for  these  hills,  and  hadn't 
the  grub  worm  taken  what  little  did  grow?  Yes 
they  did.  It  was  getting  tougher  and  tougher.  Busi- 
ness was  non-existant.  Merchants  around  the  town 
were  complaining  of  the  lack  of  it. 

Business  at  the  Piano  Factory  was  very  slow. 
Hadn't  they  the  June  previous  been  unable  to  meet 

271 


their  bills  for  materials,  etc,  and  hadn't  they  called 
a  meeting  of  their  creditors,  and  asked  for  an  ex- 
tension for  two  years,  and  got  it?  Yes  they  did. 
Creditors  of  that  place  used  common  sense,  and 
were  not  guided  by  men  who  had  stifled  their  souls 
to  reject  it  presence;  men  who  would  take  the  com- 
pass from  the  mariner,  blind  his  eyes  to  the  fixed 
stars  of  the  firmament,  burn  the  mariner's  charts, 
and  bid  him  sail  to  the  haven  of  success ;  then  ex- 
plode in  derision  when  the  wreck  comes. 

Again  I  want  to  reiterate.  I  was  getting  a  wonder- 
ful experience,  a  varied  experience,  and  plenty  of  it ; 
an  experience  I  would  not  exchange  for  anything  in 
the  world,  and  yet  an  experience  I  would  not  again 
go  thru  for  a  fortune. 

You  bet,  we  helped  the  boys  buy  corn  last  fall; 
discounted  some  of  their  notes ;  got  them  discounted 
and  credited,  accompanied  by  more  criticism.  Didn't 
the  hogs  have  to  be  fed?  Of  course  we  didn't  want 
to  feed  them  at  the  expense  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
Bank  or  anyone  else's  expense,  for  we  knew 
the  boys  would  pay  us  back  when  the  hogs  would 
be  sold,  unless  the  market  went  all  to  'ell  and  they 
wouldn't  pay  the  freight. 

Reminds  me  of  the  sheep  story  heard  some  five 
years  ago,  when  the  sheep  market  went  down  the 
toboggan.  The  Montana  rancher  shipping  several 
carload  of  sheep  to  the  Chicago  market.  He  got  a 
wire  upon  their  arrival  at  the  market,  to  send  $25.00 

272 


additional  to  help  pay  the  freight.  To  which  he  re- 
plied he  didn't  have  the  money,  but  that  he  did  have 
a  few  more  sheep  he  would  be  glad  to  ship  to  help 
out  on  the  freight. 

When  the  hog  returns  did  come  in,  didn't  Bill 
Jones  living  four  miles  west  of  town  say  he  had  a 
few  other  bills  around  town  he  would  like  to  pay 
first,  after  which  he  would  come  back?  And  didn't 
he  pay  a  store  bill  here,  another  one  there,  another 
one  at  the  implement  dealer's,  and  one  or  two  more, 
and  return  to  the  bank  with  the  statement  he  owed 
a  little  more  than  he  thought,  and  that  he  could 
only  pay  a  part  of  the  note,  and  would  I  be  willing 
to  renew  the  balance  until  next  fall  when  he  would 
probably  have  more  hogs  again?  (If  he  had  good 
luck  in  the  spring).  The  condition  was  here  and 
had  to  be  met,  for  what  could  you  do  about  it?  Yet 
in  the  face  of  those  conditions  some  retired  farmer 
would  call  some  morning  and  say  he  would  have  to 
have  the  CASH  on  his  certificate;  that  he  was  a 
little  short  and  would  have  to  cash  it.  The  amount 
of  the  certificate  was  more  that  he  would  spend 
in  two  years,  and  yet  all  at  once,  he  was,  as  he  said 
"a  little  short",  get  that,  a  "little". 

Give  me  a  town  without  a  lot  of  retired  farmers 
and  I'll  show  you  a  real  town,  but  show  me  one  that 
has  a  lot  of  them  and  I'll  show  you  a  punk  place. 
Don't  he  usually  make  it  his  business  to  tear  down 
and  refuse  to  construct?  His  religion  is  his  own 
opinion,  generally  conceived  in  a  mind  warped  by 

273 


bigoted  conceit,  for  didn't  he  own  a  farm  of  160 
acres,  6  miles  north  of  town,  clear  of  debt?  Wasn't 
he  in  good  shape  when  he  moved  to  town?  You  bet 
he  was.  He  thought  so.  He  considered  the  farm 
worth  $100.00  an  acre  and  was  sitting  pretty. 
Hadn't  he  made  a  lot  of  money  farming?  He  just 
thought  he  did. 

He  never  sat  down  and  sharpened  his  pencil  (he 
didn't  want  to  lose  the  shavings.)  Had  he  done  that 
and  placed  the  present  value  of  the  farm  back  to 
the  price  he  paid  for  it,  computed  the  taxes  since 
the  purchase  of  the  farm  40  years  ago,  upon  the 
basis  taxes  are  being  paid  today,  he  wouldn't  be 
worth  a  dollar.  Yet  he  boasts  of  the  fact  he  made 
good,  big  money  on  the  farm  and  he  couldn't  see 
why  farmers  weren't  making  money  today,  and  yet 
that  same  bird  had  a  son  out  in  the  country  on  his 
farm.  The  old  man  would  come  in  and  want  the 
cash,  when  all  the  time  the  son  was  financed  by  us. 
You  see,  the  old  man  knew  what  we  were  doing  for 
his  son,  but  apparently  didn't  appreciate  it. 

This  fellow  wanted  his  Cash  and  that  fellow 
wanted  an  extension  on  his  note.  Any  man  using  a 
little  judgement,  can  appreciate  that  such  a  con- 
dition cannot  long  maintain,  a  condition  that  is 
bound  to  wreck  havoc. 

And  yet  thru  it  all  I  could  smile.  I've  heard  it  said 
that  something  of  a  person's  character  can  be  dis- 
covered by  observing  how  he  smiles.  Some  folks 
only  grin.  There  is  this  consolation  about  the  entire 

274 


matter,  slander  shouldn't  bother  you  much,  for  the 
bee  doesn't  light  on  the  worst  fruits.  A  lawyer  may 
draw  a  petition,  possibly  a  voluminous  one,  such 
as  I  have  seen  (no  inference)  for  wasn't  paper  in- 
vented for  writing  petitions,  etc.  And  wasn't  it 
easy  to  keep  up  a  campaign  in  that  manner? 


275 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Just  a  few  incidents  I  recall  at  this  time ;  incidents 
the  like  of  which  occurred  occasionally.  Wasn't  the 
banker  there  for  every  conceivable  purpose  under 
the  sun?  And  if  he  was  a  pretty  decent  sort,  didn't 
folks  come  to  him  with  their  troubles  and  wasn't 
it  a  fact  that  he  had  troubles  enough  of  his  own 
without  being  bothered  by  other  folks?  And  yet, 
didn't  I  have  to  sit  and  listen  for  an  hour  or  more 
to  this  certain  fellow  tell  me  all  about  how  his  wife 
had  lost  confidence  in  him;  how  his  daughter  was 
joining  in  with  the  wife;  how  the  daughter  was 
more  or  less  wayward  and  later,  no  doubt,  would 
get  into  trouble,  and  what  would  I  do  under  the 
circumstances?  Didn't  he  expect  me  to  give  him  an 
intelligent  answer? 

Didn't  I  listen  one  nice  bright  morning  to  the 
tales  of  a  lady,  whose  husband  had  developed  a 
terrific  desire  for  Spirits  Frumenti,  and  wasn't  she 
ordering  me  not  to  pay  any  more  checks  signed  by 
him,  and  that  in  the  future  no  signature  of  their 
account  would  be  recognized  but  hers? 

Didn't  the  lady  with  the  wayward  son,  to  whom 
she  had  turned  a  very  nice  business,  come  to  me 
and  tell  me  her  troubles.    How  the  boy  was  spend- 

276 


ing  money  like  a  drunker  sailor?  How  he  was  buy- 
ing a  new  automobile  regularly?  and  how  the  busi- 
ness couldn't  stand  it?  And  what  could  I  suggest 
in  the  matter? 

Didn't  the  man  who  had  been  ailing  physically 
come  to  me  with  his  troubles,  advising  that  an  im- 
mediate operation  was  necessary,  and  ask  my 
opinion  as  to  whether  he  should  go  to  Rochester  or 
have  the  job  done  at  home?   Patronize  home  trade? 

It's  a  fact  that  a  lady,  assumed  by  myself,  to  be 
happily  married,  came  to  me,  with  the  statement 
that  her  husband  was  running  around  with  other 
women,  and  that  she  was  going  to  leave  him.  And 
wasn't  I  asked  what  I  would  do  under  the  circum- 
stances? My  reply  was  to  return  home;  talk  and  not 
fight,  the  matter  over  with  the  husband,  and  no 
doubt,  they  could  arrange  to  get  along  alright.  They 
are  living  happily  together  at  this  time. 

Was'nt  I  compelled  to  listen  for  hours  to  the  lady 
who  advised  me  that  her  husband  had  threatened 
to  kill  her;  that  she  felt  he  might  take  after  her 
with  a  pitch-fork,  or  some  like  instrument,  and  that 
he  had  threatened  the  life  of  the  kids?  And  what 
would  I  do  in  a  case  like  that? 

Ah,  you  bet,  the  banker  is  supposed  (supposed) 
to  know  everything.  You  bet,  the  life  of  the  banker 
was  NOT  one  continuous  round  of  pleasure.  Land 
knows  he  had  enough  GRIEF  of  his  own,  without 
having  to  listen  to  the  other  fellows?    and  yet,  the 

277 


other  fellow  thought  what's  what  you  were  on  the 
job  for. 

A  very  fine  gentleman  came  to  me  one  day  with 
the  story  that  his  son,  who  was  away  at  School  had 
gotten  into  a  jam;  that  he  wanted  to  help  him  out 
of  the  scrape,  but  how  would  he  go  about  it?  The 
result  of  that  conference  was  that  the  boy  continued 
school  and  everyone  was  again  happy. 

One  morning  a  customer  called  me  from  Dubuque 
with  the  words:  "Leo,  I'm  in  the  pen"  "How  the 
devil  did  you  get  there?"  I  asked.  "For  bootlegging" 
he  replied.  "Well"  I  said  "are  you  guilty?"  "No" 
he  said  "I  just  gave  a  fellow  a  drink  one  night,  and 
then  gave  another  one  in  the  morning,  you  know 
the  weather  was  colcVand  I  felt  sorry  for  him  so  I 
gave  him  just  them  two  drinks".  "Well,  what  do 
you  want  with  me"  I  asked.  "I  got  to  put  up  a  bond 
for  §300.00  and  I  want  you  to  send  me  the  money, 
and  charge  it  to  my  account"  was  his  reply.  I  did 
that,  but  after  mailing  the  draft  discovered  his 
balance  to  be  only  $180.00  but  let  the  draft  go  on 
thru  anyway. 

Then  again,  I'd  have  heirs  to  Estates  call,  and 
would  I  help  settle  an  argument  between  them; 
would  I  help  convince  Maggie  that  she  was  wrong 
in  wanting  more  than  allowed  her  under  the  terms 
of  the  will?  Would  I  suggest  to  what  lawyer  they 
should  go  in  the  event  they  were  unable  to  get  her 
to  agree?  Yes,  would  I  do  this  or  would  I  do  that? 
Until  a  person  became  so  exasperated  he'd  like  to 

278 


throw  the  whole  crowd  out.  Many  of  you  bankers 
know  how  she  goes. 

Than  I'd  have  some  fellow  come  in  and  say: 

"It's  a  nice  day,  aint  it  Lee".  I'd  agree  with  him, 
even  tho'  it  might  be  raining. 

"Gee,  you're  getting  fat"  would  be  his  next  state- 
ment. I'd  look  at  him,  advise  that  I  was  pretty  busy, 
and  say  "Well  Bill,  how  much  do  you  want?" 

I  could  guess  by  his  line  of  talk  he  was  leading  up 
to  a  loan,  but  didn't  have  the  nerve  to  come  right 
out  and  out  with  it.  Probably  I'd  make  the  loan  and 
probably  I  wouldn't.  You  see,  these  latter  years,  the 
borrower  had  lost  just  a  little  of  his  nerve,  altho 
many  of  them  still  possess  that  in  a  marked  degree. 

Some  years  ago  a  quite  prominent  fellow  (he 
thought  so)  came  to  me  one  morning  handing  me 
a  letter  with  the  words  "What  the  'ell  do  you  think 
about  that?" 

I  unfolded  the  letter  and  read  something  like 
this:  "You  are  guilty  of  mistreating  me  and  unless 
you  pay  me  $300.00  in  cash  before  Saturday  night, 
I  am  going  to  have  the  Sheriff  to  arrest  you,  etc, 
etc."   {Letter  signed  by  a  young  woman). 

I  looked  up  at  Charlie  and  asked  him  whether 
she  was  telling  the  truth  and  he  positively  denied 
it  in  no  uncertain  terms.  I  was  trying  to  decide  in 
my  own  mind  as  to  his  guilt  but  couldn't  quite  con- 
clude which  way  to  lean.  After  talking  the  matter 
over  with  him  some  20  minutes  I  suggested  he  leave 
the  letter  with  me  (I  still  retain  it)  and  that  I  would 

279 


try  and  dope  out  just  what  was  best  to  do  under 
the  circumstances. 

That  evening  I  wrote  the  lady  requesting  her 
presence,  and  requested  that  she  have  her  mother 
accompany  her. 

Two  days  later  she  and  the  mother  called  and  to 
the  back  room  we  went.  For  fifteen  minutes  I 
listened  to  her  STORY  and  what  a  story  it  was. 
Listen  as  I  would  I  doubted  her  sincerity  and  asked 
her  if  she  knew  what  blackmail  was  and  its  accom- 
panying penalty.  She  became  possessed  with  the 
fear  of  God  and  breaking  down,  told  me,  that  my 
friend  Charlie  was  not  guilty,  but  that  she  thought 
it  would  be  an  easy  way  to  get  some  money;  that 
she  needed  some  badly,  etc. 

That  afternoon  Charlie  called;  "How  did  you 
make  out  this  afternoon  Leo?"  he  greeted  me. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you  Charlie,  she's  gone  back  home, 
and  I  don't  believe  you'll  ever  hear  any  more  about 
it"  I  replied. 

"By  heck,  that's  fine  Leo.  Gee!  that's  a  big  load 
off  my  mind,  let's  go  out  and  get  a  coco-cola". 

And  finis  was  written  to  that  episode.  I  was  of- 
fered a  coco-cola  for  my  services,  you  see  we  con- 
tinually advertised:  SERVICE  but  we  really  were 
not  looking  for,  nor  inviting  that  kind. 

Incidents,  such  as  the  above,  I  might  relate,  page 
after  page,  but  what's  the  use?  You  have  them  and 
will  continue  to  have  them  as  long  as  you  advertise 
SERVICE  and  insist  upon  giving  it  free.    Tell  me, 

280 


where  do  you  go  for  consultation,  and  how  much 
of  it  do  you  get  free?  Very  little,  I'd  venture  to  say. 

Early  last  Fall  I  made  another  attempt  to  sell 
the  Clay  County  Farm  as  well  as  one  in  Beuna 
Vista  County,  upon  which  we  had  a  subsequent 
mortgage. 

It  was  while  making  this  drive,  about  4  miles 
west  of  Alden  I  was  driving  a  new  Studebaker  Com- 
mander, stepping  along  one  Sunday  morning,  at  a 
terrific  rate  of  speed.  Seeing  a  left  turn  marker 
ahead  some  800  feet,  I  quit  feeding  gas,  applied  my 
brakes  and  found  I  had  none.  I  grabbed  the 
emergency,  and  you  Studie  owners  know  what 
emergency  is.  I  pulled  it  back  with  all  my  might, 
throwing  the  car  to  the  right  in  the  middle  of  the 
road,  rolling  over  and  over  a  distance  of  124  feet; 
being  bounced  around  like  the  fellow  that  went 
over  Niagara  Falls  in  a  barrel. 

While  all  this  was  taking  place  my  mind  function- 
ed fast;  quicker  than  you  would  believe  the  human 
mind  capable  of;  thought  of  everything  bad  I  had 
done  since  a  boy;  thought  of  the  good  wife  and 
family;  thought  of  the  bank;  of  the  Gang  at  the 
bank;  thought  of  the  depositors,  and  what  didn't  I 
think  off?  All  of  these  thoughts  flashed  across  my 
mind  in  a  period  of  not  over  20  seconds.  The  car 
came  to  a  standstill,  unside-down.  Oil  from  the 
transmission  was  running  all  over  me.  I  tried  to 
move ;  my  head  seemed  to  be  lying  in  a  pool  of  blood ; 
reached  for  my  temple,  thanking  God  I  could  still 

281 


think;  tried  to  stop  the  flow  of  blood  from  my 
temple  with  my  hand ;  my  left  hip  hurt  like  it  might 
be  broken ;  my  left  leg  wrapped  around  the  steering 
post;  I  couldn't  seem  to  free  it.  I  was  bleeeding 
terribly,  with  glass  strewn  all  over  me.  I  managed 
to  free  myself ;  glad  that  I  still  could  think ;  that  I 
was  conscious,  and  alive.  I  extricated  myself;  my 
hip  was  fine;  crawled  out  of  the  side,  stepped  back 
and  viewed  the  wreckage.  Gas  running  out  of  the 
tank ;  tools  were  strewn  for  a  distance  of  120  feet ; 
the  wreck  of  the  Hesperus  had  nothing  on  me.  I  was 
nervous  and  said  a  sincere  prayer  to  my  Maker; 
walked  around  the  car  and  lit  a  Camel  cigarette. 

Just  then  a  man  and  lady  drove  up.  He  comes 
running  toward  me  with  his  wife  following.  I  turned 
around,  the  wife  saw  me  and  fainted;  her  husband 
ran  back  to  resusciate  her,  which  was  accomplished 
in  a  few  minutes.  He  came  back,  offered  me  every 
assistance.  By  that  time  many  cars  had  stopped, 
every  one  was  solicitious ;  offered  to  do  what  they 
could;  folks  were  human  and  kind.  I  felt  alright, 
told  them  so,  but  they  wouldn't  believe  it.  A  doctor 
arrived ;  bandaged  me  up,  someone  ordered  a  wreck- 
er. I  went  back  to  Alden  with  someone ;  had  a  doctor 
re-bandage  me;  went  out  and  had  dinner;  hired  a 
Ford  Coupe  (an  old  can)  and  drove  120  miles  that 
afternoon. 

You  bet,  I  hadn't  lost  my  hold  on  life  yet;  I  still 
had  my  nerve  with  me.  I  had  to  get  there ;  business 
demanded  it.    I  was  going  to  get  there  and  did.  No 

282 


one  shall  ever  know  the  mental  agony  and  physical 
hardship  I  endured  on  that  trip,  pushing  that  old 
Ford  to  Aurelia.  Many  of  the  bankers  were  present 
at  that  sale,  they  know.  Isn't  my  body  covered  with 
scars  caused  by  flying  glass,  scars  that  will  remain 
with  me  for  all  time  as  a  momento  of  that  trip? 
Tell  me,  how  many  men  would  have  continued  that 
trip  in  an  old  Ford  that  same  date?  No  one,  but  a 
person  with  an  indomitable  spirit. 

The  sale  took  place  the  following  day.  The 
Auctioneer,  try  as  he  would,  could  not  get  anyone  to 
place  a  bid  on  the  farm,  one  of  the  finest  farms  I 
ever  viewed,  with  an  excellent  set  of  buildings,  in 
very  good  condition.  Finally,  in  desperation,  the 
Auctioneer  placed  a  bid  on  it  himself,  worked  the 
bidding  up  a  little  (himself),  but  still  no  one  seemed 
interested  in  buying  it.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  original 
owner  had  refused  $300.00  an  acre  for  it  in  1918, 
before  the  wild  days,  and  here  was  Mr.  Auctioneer 
and  I  unable  to  get  a  bid  of  $75.00  an  acre  on  it. 

Had  people  lost  all  sense  of  value?  Couldn't  they 
raise  as  much  on  that  farm  as  they  could  15  years 
ago,  before  a  real  estate  boom  was  heard  of,  and 
when  that  same  farm  could  have  been  sold  for 
$200.00  an  acre?  Sure  they  could.  But  yet,  they 
wouldn't  bid  on  it.  Why  ?  I'll  tell  you  why. 

Because  the  farmer  had  come  to  realize  the  in- 
justice of  the  spread  between  his  marketing  price 
and  the  price  the  consumer  ultimately  has  to  pay. 
Get  me  right,  I  am  NOT  a  bolshevik.    It's  a  (act 

283 


that  such  a  condition  does  exist;  a  condition  that 
must  be  met  and  remedied  if  agriculture  is  to  be 
saved.  Irregardless  of  what  any  newspaper  may 
say  about  agricultural  prosperity,  there  is  no  such 
animal.  There  hasn't  been  since  1919;  and  there 
will  be  none  until  conditions  are  remedied.  I'm  not 
advocating  what  that  remedy  shall  be.  Elimination 
of  SOME  middle  men  would  go  a  long  way  toward 
rectifying  conditions. 

As  I  view  it,  under  present  conditions,  the  boys 
holding  Real  Estate  at  this  time  must  continue 
holding  it,  possibly  at  a  yearly  expense  to  them- 
selves, until  such  time  as  general  confidence  in  busi- 
ness is  restored.  The  McNary-Haugen  Bill  now  up 
for  so  much  discusion,  while  it  may  have  it's  defects, 
is  at  least  worth  a  trial.  Isn't  it  true  that  Legislation 
has  been  passed  aimed  to  assist  some  other  line  of 
industry;  that  such  legislation  has  been  found 
faulty,  in  some  respects,  and  subsequently  corrected, 
and  that  the  result  of  such  enacted  Legislation  has 
proven  beneficial  to  the  line  of  industry  it  was  in- 
tended to  serve?  Isn't  it  safe  to  assume,  that  while 
the  Agricultural  bill  mentioned  above,  even  tho  it 
may  have  some  minor  defects,  would  be  worth  a 
trial,  and  possibly  with  a  few  corrections  sub- 
sequently, serve  the  purpose  its  proponents  advo- 
cate? In  the  event  it  is  found  unsound,  couldn't  it 
be  modified,  amended  or  cast  from  the  Statutes 
entirely? 

284 


Without  question  the  Immigration  Law  has  had 
its  effect  on  Agriculture.  For  isn't  it  a  fact  that 
practically  our  entire  country  was  first  settled  by 
immigrants ;  sturdy  men  and  women  tilling  the  soil, 
establishing  happy  and  prosperous  homes,  in  fact, 
making  this  grand  country  of  ours? 

Now  then,  with  immigration  limited,  very  few 
such  folks  are  coming  to  this  land  of  ours,  with  the 
result  that  thousands  and  thousands  of  acres  of  land 
in  the  Great  Northwest,  land  that  would  make  a  pro- 
fitable living,  under  ordinary  circumstances  for 
many  an  immigrant,  lie  idle;  growing  up  to  weeds, 
making  it  that  much  tougher  for  the  neighboring 
farmer,  who  has  a  hard  enough  time  controlling  the 
weeds  on  his  own  farm,  say  nothing  of  attempting 
to  control  them  in  adjoining  farms.  In  1924  Presi- 
dent Coolidge  said :  "It  would  be  well  to  make  im- 
migration of  a  selective  nature."  Why  not,  then, 
select  suitable  immigrants  for  farming  purposes,  and 
place  them  in  our  great,  vast  Northwest? 

With  agriculture  remaining  in  its  present  state, 
young  America  cannot  be  induced  to  go  farming; 
cannot  be  convinced  that  happy  homes  are  in  the 
country  as  well  as  in  the  cities,  and,  having  heard 
so  much  of  the  terrible  conditions  obtaining  in  the 
agricultural  district,  hesitate  to  go  farming,  and 
smile  when  they  read  of  the  Back  to  the  Farm  Move- 
ment. They'd  sooner  ride  an  automobile  over  the 
boulevards. 

As  a  result,  no  sturdy  young  men  are  available, 

285 


and  no  doubt  will  continue  to  be  unavailable,  unless 
the  Government  should  see  fit  to,  for  a  time  at  least, 
lift  the  bars  and  allow  foreigners  to  enter,  and  when 
that  time  comes,  you  bankers  who  have  control  of 
considerable  real  estate  will  see  an  active  market 
and  a  general  improvement  in  conditions  gen- 
erally. 

I  have  but  to  refer  to  Canada  in  this  respect.  They 
not  only  want  foreign  farmers  to  enter  their  coun- 
try, but  grant  them  financial  assistance  as  well; 
starting  them  along  the  line  of  making  money,  and 
establishing  happy  and  contented  homes  for  them- 
selves, and  making  of  those  new  citizens,  men  and 
women  any  nation  can  point  to  with  pride. 

The  McNary-Haugen  Bill  previously  mentioned 
declared  an  Emergency  existing  and  seeks  to  pro- 
mote equality  between  agricultural  products  and 
other  commodities,  an  equality  that  MUST  be 
brought  about  in  order  to  save  the  Middle  West. 

While  the  farmer  may  be  told  to  cut  his  production 
to  meet  the  demand,  yet  should  he  comply  with  such 
a  statement,  what  would  happen  in  the  event  a  crop 
failure  occurred  and  no  surplus  was  available.  It's 
not  an  impossibility  that  unfavorable  weather  condi- 
tions, insect  depredations  or  other  factors  might  re- 
duce the  supply  on  hand,  and  wherewith  would  the 
demand  be  met? 

Some  of  its  opponents  would  have  you  believe  it 
is  Class  Legislation.  That  it  is  economically  un- 
sound.   That  the  Government  should  not  be  asked  to 

286 


regulate  imports  that  come  in  direct  competition 
with  the  farmers'  produce.  Why  then,  has  the  Gov- 
ernment seen  fit  in  the  past  to  pass  legislation  to  aid 
some  other  line  of  industry? 

As  I  view  it  the  Bill  is  nothing  more  or  less  than 
united  action  on  the  part  of  the  producers  of  a  cer- 
tain commodity,  assisted  by  action  of  the  Govern- 
ment, to  protect  themselves  from  foreign  competi- 
tion. You  might  term  it  a  tariff  if  you  wish.  If  the 
Tariff  is  sound  in  one  instance,  why  under  the  sun 
isn't  it  so  considered  in  the  other? 

If  steel  can  be  manufactured  for  sale  in  this 
country  and  sold  here  above  world  prices  on  account 
of  tariff  protection,  and  the  surplus  of  the  manu- 
facturer sold  in  foreign  lands  at  cheaper  prices, 
why  cannot  agricultural  products  be  handled  in 
the  same  manner? 

For  seven  years  Congress  has  been  worrying  along 
about  the  Agricultural  situation  with  the  result  that 
it  isn't  in  much  better  condition  today  than  7  years 
ago. 

When  you  stop  and  think  that  the  value  of  the  1919 
agricultural  crops  of  the  United  States  were  in  ex- 
cess of  115,000,000,000.00  and  that  the  value  of  the 
entire  1921  agricultural  crop  was  less  than  $7,000,- 
000,000.00  you  can  appreciate  what  happened  to  the 
farmer  and  what  happened  to  the  country  banker, 
who  was  favored  with  the  farmer's  business.  And 
then,  in  addition,  have  the  1921  condition  remain 
with  us  for  7  long  years. 

287 


When  you  stop  and  think  that  the  average  farm- 
er's income,  as  compiled  at  that  time  by  the  U.  S. 
Department  of  Agriculture,  in  1919  was  $1,774.00 
and  in  1922  was  but  S917.00  you  can  appreciate  how 
much  profit  the  farmer  was  making.  He  wasn't 
making  any ;  the  farm  was  being  foreclosed  on  him. 
In  1922  in  one  County  in  Montana,  of  which  I  know 
a  little,  53  per  cent  of  the  total  improved  farm  acre- 
age was  foreclosed  or  was  in  the  process  of  fore- 
closure. 

The  United  States  Department  of  Justice  records 
indicate  that  in  a  few  of  the  West  North  Central 
States  213  farmers  took  bankruptcy  in  1920,  less 
than  that  amount  in  1919,  and  2005  of  1923.  And 
yet,  now  and  then,  someone  says  the  farmer  must 
help  himself,  that  such  is  his  only  salvation.  You 
believe  me,  the  farmer  is  willing  to  help  himself,  but 
by  the  gods,  he  can't  do  it,  much  as  he  would  like  to, 
and  he's  got  to  get  some  assistance,  so  why  in  the 
name  of  common  sense  has  legislation  aimed  to  im- 
prove his  condition,  been  so  long  delayed? 

Didn't  President  Coolidge  say  in  1924:  "Occu- 
pants of  our  reclamation  projects  are  in  financial 
difficulties.  Relief  should  be  granted  by  definite  au- 
thority of  the  law"? 

Now  then,  the  farmer  being  in  the  same  difficulty, 
why  hasn't  he  been  shown  the  same  consideration? 
For  it  is  a  fact  that  the  farmers  in  number,  many 
times  exceed  the  number  of  reclaimed  project  own- 
ers. 

288 


Didn't  he  also  say :  "Many  of  the  departments  in 
Washington  need  better  housing  facilities"?  A  Bill 
was  introduced  calling  for  the  expenditure  of  $50,- 
000,000.00  over  a  period  of  a  few  years,  in  order  to 
improve  housing  conditions  down  there,  such  as  the 
Department  of  Justice  building,  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  building,  and  others.  At  that  time  the 
boys  were  all  set  to  improve  the  housing  conditions 
for  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  but  didn't  feel 
like  anything  should  be  done  for  Agriculture  itself. 
They  didn't  worry  about  that,  they  simply  wanted 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  to  have  a  mighty  nice 
marble  building — when  as  a  matter  of  fact  Agri- 
culture needed  assistance  much  more.  The  poor  devil 
that  was  making  possible  the  office  that  needed  a 
better  housing  condition  wasn't  getting  the  con- 
sideration— he  was  allowed  to  plug  along  as  best  he 
could  until  the  handle  on  his  hoe  broke  and  he  had 
to  give  up  the  farm. 

I've  read  and  re-read  the  McNary-Haugen  Bill 
and  it  IS  worth  a  trial. 

Some  of  the  opponents  of  the  bill  say  it  is  eco- 
nomically unsound  to  export  raw  material  from  a 
country  where  facilities  exist  for  converting  such 
raw  material  into  the  finished  product. 

There's  no  question  about  that  being  the  truth  but 
— when  raw  materials  are  made  into  the  finished 
product  in  this  country  and  then,  no  market  exists 
for  the  finished  product  or  the  ultimate  consumer  is 
compelled  to  pay  an  exorbitant  price,  the  present 

289 


condition  must  obtain — or  on  the  other  hand  the  sur- 
plus shipped  to  some  foreign  country,  and  such  price 
based  NOT  upon  a  Liverpool  market. 

Opponents  contend  that  it  places  in  the  hands  of 
the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  and  those  appointed 
by  him,  a  tremendous  power  that  might  be  abused. 

I  don't  believe  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  would 
abuse  that  power,  but  let's  assume  that  he  does. 
Couldn't  another  Senate  Investigation  be  made, 
such  as  is  at  present  being  conducted  in  connection 
with  the  Teapot  Dome  Scandal?  At  least  it  would 
give  Congress  something  to  pass  their  time  away 
with.     (They  enjoy  investigations.) 

Some  opponents  of  the  bill  contend  Grain  Ex- 
changes would  be  eliminated. 

Possibly  that  might  be  a  very  good  thing,  for  I 
don't  believe  humankind  expects  that  the  very  ne- 
cessities of  life  should  be  gambled  in. 

Other  opponents  contend  that  the  levelling  of 
prices  is  a  process  in  two  directions,  and  that  to 
establish  the  relationship  between  farm  prices  and 
of  other  commodities,  it  is  necessary  not  only  that 
farm  prices  come  up,  but  that  other  prices  come 
down.  This  process  is  and  has  been  going  on  and 
will  continue  to  do  so  to  the  ultimate  benefit  of  the 
farmer. 

There  is  a  certain  amount  of  logic  in  that  argu- 
ment, in  fact,  much  logic,  hut  the  fact  remains,  hav- 
ing been  proven  for  the  past  six  years  that  the  re- 
establishment  of  that  relationship    is    NOT    being 

290 


brought  about.  We're  all  hoping  for  it,  but  it  doesn't 
seem  to  get  here,  and  since  it  is  not  getting  here, 
PASSING  the  bill,  (without  a  veto  of  course)  seems 
to  be  the  solution. 

Another  opponent  would  tell  you  it  would  tend  to 
increase  production. 

Since  the  tax  will  be  an  ever  present  argument 
to  all  farmers  of  the  evils  of  growing  excessive 
crops,  they  would  hardly  increase  production,  since 
it  is  obvious  that  the  greater  the  exportable  surplus, 
the  higher  the  tax  and  the  less  the  net  profit. 

Still  others  contend  'Class  Legislation'. 

Rather,  it  is  a  method  to  remove  the  stigma  of 
class  legislation  from  the  existing  tariff  structure. 
The  tariff  would  be  applied  to  all  American  products 
as  it  should,  and  not  to  everything  excepting  the 
farmers  product. 

Now  and  then  the  point  is  made  that  the  crisis 
agriculture  has  been  passing  through  will  result  in 
the  elimination  of  the  unfit,  those  who  had  no  ex- 
perience in  farming  and  had  no  capital  to  begin  with. 
They  contend  also  that  the  majority  are  turning 
from  wheat  farming  and  taking  up  diversified  farm- 
ing instead ;  that  the  farmer  is  using  his  intelligence, 
and  where  that  practice  is  being  followed  there  is  no 
acute  suffering,  but  a  reasonable  degree  of  comfort 
and  prosperity. 

It  is  a  matter  of  fact  that  the  Wheat-Farmer  has 
been  unheard  of  in  Iowa  for  years  and  years,  and 
that  no  State  in  the  Union  follows  diversified  farm- 

291 


ing  more  than  does  the  Iowa  farmer — how  then,  can 
that  opponent  of  the  bill  answer  that  one  and  con- 
tinue in  his  argument  ? 

The  Iowa  farmer,  as  well  as  every  agriculturalist, 
is  fighting  for  nothing  but  equality.  Isn't  it  a  fact 
that  he  is  compelled  to  buy  on  a  restricted  market 
and  sell  on  a  competitive  market?  A  market  that 
is  made  by  the  surplus  of  his  product.  He's  com- 
pelled to  go  into  competition,  as  it  were,  with  pro- 
ducts raised  by  the  cheapest  labor  in  the  world.  On 
account  of  Government  protection  other  manufactur- 
ers can  sell  here  all  the  market  will  absorb,  at  their 
own  price,  and  dump  the  balance  on  the  markets  of 
the  world. 

Even  with  passage  or  adoption  of  the  bill  the 
farmer  won't  be  able  to  fix  the  price  arbitrarily.  The 
selling  price  is  to  be  determined  by  the  proper  rela- 
tionship with  all  other  things  on  the  index  list  of 
prices  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  creating  a  pro- 
per relationship  between  the  results  of  labor  in  agri- 
culture and  the  results  of  labor  in  all  industries. 
You'll  have  to  agree,  there's  nothing  unfair  about 
that;  neither  can  it  be  termed  class  legislation. 

Again,  arguments  are  put  forth  that  the  farmer 
is  to  blame  for  his  present  predicament;  that  he 
brought  the  present  condition  upon  himself  by  'step- 
ping out  on  a  limb',  by  buying  new  automobiles ;  by 
spending  money  like  a  drunken  sailor  when  he  had  it. 

I'll  grant  you  all  of  that,  it  may  be  true,  but  just 
because  it  was  unfortunate  that  he  did  so  certainly  is 

292 


no  good  reason  why  he  isn't  entitled  to  help  at  this 
time.  Hasn't  many  a  man  fallen,  and  after  mature 
thought,  been  aided,  with  the  result  that  he  came  to 
the  front  again,  and  now  occupies  his  former  stand- 
ing? 

Isn't  it  a  positive  fact  that  the  farmer  actually 
wants  to  stay  on  the  farm?  He  doesn't  want  to 
move  to  town,  for  what  other  line  than  farming  does 
he  know?  What  other  line  of  business  might  he 
enter  successfully?  For  he  admits  being  born  and 
raised  on  a  farm,  and  hard  labor  is  the  extent  of  his 
average  education. 

He  did  his  duty  during  the  War,  had  the  whole 
family  help  him;  behind  him  lie  years  of  toil  and 
sacrifice ;  that  little  equity  he  has  in  his  farm  repre- 
sents his  years  of  toil  and  frugality,  an  equity  he 
stands  a  mighty  good  chance  of  losing. 

He's  striving  stubbornly  to  make  a  living  for  his 
family ;  a  living  that  the  average  city  family  wouldn't 
put  up  with  at  all;  but  a  living  he  has  been  accus- 
tomed to,  and  is  satisfied  with.  Isn't  he  fighting 
grimly  against  a  system  of  crucifying  costs,  costs,  in 
some  cases,  sustained  by  legal  protection?  And  here 
he  is,  getting  out  at  daylight,  milking  a  dozen  cows 
or  so,  going  to  breakfast  at  5:30  and  then  into  the 
field  for  the  day,  returning  from  a  hard  day's  labor 
at  seven  that  night,  being  compelled  to  milk  the  cows 
again,  feed  the  hogs,  and  do  many  other  chores 
around  the  place,  when  at  eight  o'clock  or  nine  he 
retires  to  the  house  to  partake  of  an  appetizing  meal, 

293 


prepared  by  the  good  wife,  who  herself    has  been 
busy  thruout  the  entire  day. 

Yes  sir,  and  that  farmer  doesn't  reckon  time  for 
the  good  wife,  for  Pete  and  John,  his  sons,  who  might 
have  ben  working  around  the  farm  all  day  also.  If 
he  stopped  to  do  that ;  reckon  their  time  at  10  or 
15  cents  an  hour,  he'd  be  sunk.  He  may  be  pretty 
much  sunk  as  it  is,  without  any  such  reckoning,  and 
unless — aid  is  forthcoming,  he'll  continue  to  suffer 
— and  Stabilization  of  Prices  of  Farm  Products  will 
be  his  only  salvation. 

Yes,  at  that  Beuna  Vista  County  Farm  sale,  good 
old  Iowa  black  dirt,  was  a  drug  on  the  market,  when 
some  ten  years  back,  and  for  50  years  prior  to  that, 
it  was  considered  one  of  the  best  assets  of  the 
United  States. 

Let  me  add  this;  In  addition  to  Iowa  having  the 
best  producing  Real  Estate  in  the  Union,  it  has 
access  to  the  world's  markets,  an  ideal  climate  and 
should  attract  not  only  the  Eastern  Capitalist's 
money,  but  his  presence  as  well.  For  hasn't  the 
East  a  misconcecption  of  the  State  of  Iowa?  Isn't 
it  a  fact  if  that  same  Easterner  made  a  trip  thru 
Iowa,  at  any  time  during  the  crop  season,  his  im- 
pression of  it  would  be  100  per  cent  favorable,  and 
he  would  again  interest  himself  financially  in  the 
State  and  it's  people  ? 

294 


The  result  of  the  farm  sale,  the  attempted  farm 
sale,  what  that  Mr.  Auctineer  and  I  left  the  place 
in  disgust,  he  returning  to  his  home  in  Waterloo, 
and  I  driving  to  Ames,  Iowa,  to  meet  with  a  few 
members  of  the  Iowa  State  Highway  Commission. 


295 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Jackson  County  had  a  very  hot  Good  Roads 
Campaign.  Opinion  as  to  the  advisability  of  a  bond 
issue  was  divided.  You  see,  bonds  had  so  risen  in 
popularitiy  that  even  the  States  and  Counties  took 
it  upon  themselves  to  issue  a  few,  for  why  shouldn't 
they?  Weren't  the  public  buying  bonds,  and  why 
couldn't  they  sell  a  few  also,  and  improve  the  Road 
situation?    Drag  Iowa  out  of  the  mud? 

So  a  bond  Campaign  was  commenced.  Antagonism 
was  rife.  Bellevue  said  many  harsh  things  about 
Maquoketa  and  Maquoketa  retaliated  with  seme  still 
harder,  with  the  result  that  just  shortly  before  the 
election,  the  Commercial  Club  (now  known  as  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce)  made  a  trip  to  Ames  to 
take  the  matter  up  with  the  Highway  Commission. 
so  they  might  know  what  to  expect.  The  Commit- 
tee's spokesman,  myself,  spent  a  few  hours  with  the 
boys;  the  Committee  and  I  met  with  them  the  day 
following  with  the  result  that  we  were  assured  of 
being  treated  right,  following  which  the  committee 
returned  home. 

My  return  (with  the  old  Ford  Coupe)  to  Aider) 
was  uneventful.  The  Garage  mechanics  had  the  car 
pretty  well  patched  up,  without  any  glass  however. 

296 


I  drove  it  to  Bellevue,  arriving  home  in  a  very 
nervous  condition.  I  went  to  work  at  the  bank 
immediately,  when  I  should  have  retired  to  a  hospi- 
tal for  a  few  days  at  least.  The  bank  needed  my 
attention,  and  at  the  bank  I  was.  Oh !  yes,  the  bank- 
er's life  was  a  sweet  proposition. 

This  same  fall  took  considerable  of  my  time  with 
the  Park  Board,  of  which  I  was  a  member.  The 
State  Board  had  previously  designated  one  of  our 
beautiful  hills  adjoining  the  town  on  the  South  as 
a  State  Park,  and  the  local  board  was  doing  all  in 
it's  power  to  improve  it  properly.  I  had  plenty  of 
jobs;  Treasurer  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and 
a  Director  as  well;  Treasurer  of  the  Creamery; 
Treasurer  of  the  K.  C.  Home  Building  Association; 
Treasurer  of  the  K.  C's;  Secretary  of  the  Park 
Board  Association;  Chairman  of  the  Good  Roads 
Committee;  a  director  of  the  Golf  Club;  Guardian 
of  a  few  minor  children ;  and  Guardian  of  two  insane 
Wards,  all  of  which  were  almost  driving  me  insane 
myself,  together  with  being  Cashier  of  the  Bank. 

Not  having  much  to  do,  as  some  folks  would  as- 
sume, I  was  called  to  assist  here  and  there;  help 
people  iron  out  their  trouble;  go  into  lengthy  con- 
ference about  this  or  that;  spend  much  of  the  day 
in  my  back  room  talking  matters  over  with  some 
of  the  folks  of  the  community,  for  even  in  the  face 
of  the  Gossiper,  folks  still  came  to  me,  giving  me 
the  benefit  of  being  of  possible  assistance  to  them 
in  more  ways  than  one.  Then  along  toward  evening 

297 


have  one  of  My  Gang  tell  me  of  having  lost  this 
deposit  or  that,  during  the  day. 

Yes  boys,  she  was  a  gay  life.  My  iron  constitution 
was  beginning  to  weaken.  I  didn't  seem  to  have  the 
resistance  I  had  prior  to  my  accident,  and  I  want  to 
add  in  connection  with  that,  that  just  a  few  days 
ago  word  came  to  me  of  someone  having  said  "He 
wouldn't  be  surprised  if  my  auto  accident  had  been 
intentional  and  that  suicide  had  been  my  intent." 
That'll  give  you  just  a  general  idea  of  what  I  had 
to  buck  for  years.  Suicide,  say  listen,  such  a  thought 
never  entered  my  mind,  and  with  the  happy  frame 
of  mind  I  am  in  now,  it  is  furthermost  from  my 
thoughts. 

The  late  fall  and  winter  1927  and  28  saw  live 
stock  receipts  low ;  many  a  deal  we  anticipated  would 
be  cleaned  up  and  out  of  the  way  by  the  first  of  the 
year,  did  not  seem  to  materialize.  Money  was  hard 
to  get.  The  Fed.  PREFERRED  not  to  increase  the 
line,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  line  was  not  high. 
I  don't  blame  them  tho'.  They  were  on  the  job  to 
hold  the  banker  down;  to  prevent  him,  if  possible, 
from  going  out  on  a  limb  again,  as  he  did  some  years 
back. 

With  little  money  coming  in,  this  retired  farmer 
or  that  calling,  and  wanting  his  money;  this  man 
or  that  needing  his,  when  all  of  the  time  we  knew 
there  could  possibly  not  be  such  a  terrific  legitimate 
demand  for  money;  we  discounted  additional  paper 
with  the  Fed.    They  didn't  see  fit  to  comply  with 

298 


our  request;  preferring,  as  they  stated,  not  to  in- 
crease the  line. 

Anxious  days  and  nights  came;  worry  was 
beginning  to  tell  on  me;  I  couldn't  sleep;  my  re- 
sistance had  about  disappeared;  I'd  been  bounced 
up  against  the  wall  but  would  always  bounce  back, 
ready  to  fight  some  more ;  then  I'd  be  bounced  again, 
and  again  I'd  bounce  back  and  fight.  There's  a  limit 
to  all  human  endurance,  and  I  was  fast  reaching 
mine.  Fear  began  to  assail  me ;  I  wasn't  myself,  few 
people  knew  it,  altho'  I  wouldn't  give  up.  I  can 
truthfully  say  tho'  that  I  was  one  banker  who  didn't 
resort  to  this  or  that  kind  of  shenanigan ;  who  didn't 
pledge  his  assets  here  and  there  as  collateral  for 
funds.  The  good  people  who  saw  fit  to  remain  with 
us  were  entitled  to  protection;  we  wouldn't  show 
any  preference,  and  the  assets  of  our  institution 
were  kept  right  in  there.  The  0.  R.  owned  was 
practically  clear;  we'd  not  negotiated  a  loan  of  a 
dollar  on  any  of  it,  in  some  cases  retiring  indebted- 
ness already  on  it  at  the  time  title  was  taken  by 
ourselves;  it  was  held  intact.  The  notes  we  owned, 
outside  ofcourse  of  those  discounted,  were  in  our 
possession. 

Would  I  continue  our  course  of  orderly  liquidation 
making  it  possible  for  us  to  pay  the  depositors  as 
they  wished  to  have  it,  and  would  the  public  allow 
us  to  do  that?  These  and  many  like  thoughts  would 
flash  across  my  mind  for  days.  No  one  was  taken 
into  my  confidence;  for  wasn't  one  man  worrying 

299 


his  head  off  about  the  situation  enough?  Why 
pester  other  folks  with  it?  Wasn't  I  used  to  it,  and 
weren't  my  shoulders  broad?  Wasn't  I  a  husky  lad 
and  couldn't  I  stand  it  alone?  I  thought  I  could, 
and  was  at  least  willing  to  try.  But  try  as  I  might, 
I  could  not  get  rid  of  that  one  thought;  "Will  the 
depositors  ever  let  us  alone?"  Sometimes  I'd  think 
they  would  and  again  I  doubted  it. 

Every  now  and  then  someone  would  come  in  and 
want  the  cash.  CASH,  yes,  just  Cash.  A  lot  of  that 
same  cash  was  being  placed  in  the  Refrigerating 
Plant  organized  some  years  previous. 

Nightly,  I'd  retire  for  home  and  worry  about  this 
depositor  and  that  borrower  and  worry  for  both  of 
them.  I  took  a  physical  examination  and  was  ad- 
vised of  being  in  a  very  bad  diabetic  condition. 
Here  me,  36  years  old,  diabetic.  Urged  by  good 
medical  authority  to  get  out  of  the  business,  or  my 
condition  would  get  worse  and  it  would  finally  get 
me.  Yet  in  the  face  of  that,  nothing  under  God's 
sun  would  have  suited  me  better,  or  pleased  me 
more  than  to  save  that  institution,  for  my  heart 
and  soul  was  wrapped  up  in  it.  But,  the  Powers  that 
Be  dictated  otherwise. 

While  I'd  sit  and  plan,  marshalling  my  faculties, 
I'd  imagine  that  the  job  was  as  difficult  or  as  easy 
as  I  thought  it  to  be,  yet  I  couldn't  help  but  feel 
that  the  job  was  almost  hopeless. 

Still  I'd  feel  that  it  was  easier  to  accomplish  a 
hard  job,  with  applied  energy,  than  a  simple  task 

500 


because  of  a  disagreeable  feature.  A  job  is  always 
more  difficult  if  you  hesitate  to  tackle  it.  I  felt 
the  whole  trick  was  in  believing  I  could  do  it;  take 
off  my  coat  and  buckle  in  again.  I  felt  that  real 
impossibilities  were  extemely  rare  and  was  prepared 
to  tackle  the  hard  one;  the  kind  that  makes  you 
bend  your  back  and  test  your  nerve. 

I  would  feel  that  the  greatest  way  in  the  world 
to  win  my  own  self  respect  was  to  tackle  the  job, 
stiff  as  it  seemed,  and  stay  with  it — long  after  I 
should  have  quit.  A  set-back  never  whipped  a 
fighter,  but  only  sharpens  his  faculties ;  stiffens  his 
backbone. 

When  you  measure  a  man  it  isn't  how  hard  he 
falls,  but  how  gamely  he  comes  back,  that  counts. 
Many  such  thoughts  occurred  to  me;  thoughts  that 
would  bolster  me  up;  make  me  get  in  there  and 
fight,  and  yet  for  all  of  them,  the  fight  was  gradu- 
ally leaving  me. 

At  times,  cold  as  the  month  of  January  was,  I 
would  walk  across  the  street,  look  up  and  down  that 
bleak,  cold  Mississippi  River,  and  recall  another 
day  when  I  stood  on  the  very  spot,  admiring  the 
wonders  of  nature,  noting  at  that  time  the  scenic 
beauty  of  the  place — feeling  that  God  certainly  must 
have  chosen  such  a  site  for  a  town,  and  now,  know- 
ing the  financial  disasters  of  the  little  town  the  past 
8  years,  I  would  wonder  whether  God,  after  all, 
had  forgotten  about  the  place.  I  couldn't  help  but 
feel  moments  of  threatened  disaster  and  yet,  my 

301 


resistance  would  come  to  the  top.  I  knew  that  re- 
sistance of  water  against  the  propeller  made  the 
boat  go ;  that  resistance  of  steel  rails  made  it  possi- 
ble for  railroads  to  operate;  that  resistance  of  a 
roadbed  to  rubber  makes  possible  the  automobile; 
and  yet,  it  was  hard  to  muster  that  resistance 
against  almost  an  impossibility.  I  would  ponder 
over  events  of  the  past ;  over  the  fact  that  folks  lost 
more  than  a  million  dollars  in  wild  cat  stocks  in 
this  community  over  that  period  of  time;  that  the 
failure  of  one  bank  in  1922  meant  more  than  a  half 
million  more  to  the  community;  that  the  second 
bank  failure  meant  almost  as  much  to  them;  that 
more  than  §100,000.00  had  been  lost  in  the  Piano 
Factory ;  that  a  half  million  was  lost  in  the  Lumber 
Co.  failure.  I  would  try  and  figure  out  why  the 
Whispering  Campaign,  started  in  1922  and  con- 
tinued up  to  this  time,  did  not  cease ;  why  folks  per- 
sisted in  dragging  their  deposits  away  from  our 
institution ;  why,  in  the  face  of  what  our  institution 
had  been  called  upon  to  do,  and  did  creditably,  dur- 
ing those  past  8  years  of  financial  difficulties, 
people  wouldn't  give  us  credit  for  accomplishments? 
Just  why  wouldn't  they?  In  disgust  I'd  return  to 
the  bank  and  wish  that  the  Mississippi  flowed 
Pluto  water,  and  that  every  pusillanimous  cipher 
might  imbibe  gallons  of  it.  You  see,  it  would  have 
been  cheap  in  that  case,  and  would  probably  have 
been  used.  All  that  would  have  been  necessary  was 
for  the  Scandal-monger  to  go  to  the  waters  edge; 

302 


carry  a  can  of  it  home,  take  two  table-spoons  every 
other  hour,  and  no  doubt  he  would  have  obtained 
results.  Still  I  don't  know.  He  might  be  so  badly 
inoculated  that  several  tank  loads  might  be  required. 
After  that  treatment  he  might  have  been  inclined 
to  mind  his  own  business. 

Right  now  comes  to  my  mind  an  incident  occur- 
ring upon  walking  out  of  Church  one  Sunday.  I 
spoke  to  a  friend  of  mine,  above  a  whisper  of 
course,  whereupon  an  aged  young  lady,  referred  to 
occasionally  as  an  old  maid,  said,  "My,  that's  ter- 
rible, talking  in  church,  Mr.  Schmitt." 

"Listen  here,  old  girl,"  I  replied,  "it's  not  half  as 
bad  as  a  lot  of  the  blah,  blah  some  folks  do  outside 
of  church."   And,  she  got  me  the  first  time,  too. 

Another  time  another  skirt,  about  the  same  age, 
called  and  asked  whether  a  certain  man's  check  for 
$75.00  was  good.  I  evidenced  some  surprise  at  the 
question,  whereupon  she  repeated  it  again.  I  looked 
at  her  some  moments  and  said,  "It  seems  dam  fun- 
ny you  don't  know  that,  you  seem  to  know  every- 
thing else  about  this  bank."  And,  you  believe  me, 
I  said  it  with  plenty  of  sterness  in  my  voice,  and 
used  the  same  facial  expression.  I  put  an  obstacle 
before  her  mental  attitude,  without  any  delicacies 
thrown  in.    She  went  out  and  sinned  NO  more. 

February  came  and  withdrawals  wera  still  in 
order.  I  asked  my  Gang  what  the  'ell  they  thought 
would  ibecome  of  the  institution  if  people  continually 
treated  us  in  that  manner.  They  didn't  know,  altho 

303 


Henry  countered  with  the  statement  "Lee,  we've 
put  up  a  good  fight,  let's  stick  with  them,  we'll 
land  alright".  I  couldn't  agree  with  him,  much  as 
I  would  have  liked  to. 

Again  I'd  take  to  my  back  room,  trying  to  figure 
ways  and  means,  but  figure  as  I  might,  I  just 
couldn't  put  up  more  fight.  The  fight  and  pepper, 
oodles  of  which  I  possessed  for  years,  had  been 
taken  out  of  me.  I  didn't  have  the  resistance  nor 
the  sticktoitivness  and  yet  hoped  and  prayed  that 
conditions  might  reverse  themselves.  They  didn't. 
Hadn't  our  deposits,  a  total  of  almost  One  Million, 
Two  Hundred  Thousand  Dollars,  been  lowered  to 
Five  Hundred  and  Fifty  Thousand  and  could  such  a 
condition  continue  any  longer? 

The  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  was  held  on  Tuesday,  Feb.  14,  this  year. 
My  first  expression  after  the  President  called  the 
meeting  to  order,  was  "Well  boys,  this  is  the  last 
meeting  of  this  Board  of  Directors,  as  I  view  it". 
A  bomb-shell  exploding  in  the  room  could  not  have 
caused  more  commotion.  Complexions  turned 
various  colors;  everybody  was  sad  and  morose. 
Couldn't  something  be  done?  Yes,  I  agreed  it  could. 
The  day  was  spent  in  going  over  the  assets  of  the 
institution.  Again  we  convened  at  7  that  evening; 
the  assets  were  appraised  by  the  Board,  whereupon 
some  of  the  men  said  it  was  a  dam  shame  to  close 
this  bank,  that  we  could  go  out  and  get  plenty  of 
cash  and  keep  this  bank  going. 

304 


"Yes"  I  agreed,  "we  can  but  you'll  have  to  get 
someone  else  to  run  it;  I've  reached  the  end  of  my 
endurance,  I  just  cannot  continue.  I'm  nervous,  all 
shot  to  pieces  and  can't  stand  the  gaff  any  longer". 

Whereupon  I  again  reviewed  with  the  Board  the 
treatment  accorded  us  the  past  5  years,  ever  since 
the  closing  of  the  other  two  institutions;  of  the 
Campaign  of  villif ication  that  had  been  in  progress ; 
of  our  inability  to  cope  with  the  situation,  for  hadn't 
I  liquidated  fifty  or  sixty  thousand,  paid  it  out ; 
liquidated  a  like  amount,  paid  it  out;  liquidated 
more  and  more,  and  paid  out  again,  and  what  bank 
could  stand  up  under  it? 

My  two  assistants  were  present  at  the  evening 
meeting.  Little  did  they  surmise  its  nature  until 
they  arrived.  We  worked  until  11  o'clock  when  a 
resolution  to  close  the  bank  was  passed. 

This  Cashier  wrote  the  sign  to  be  placed  on  the 
door,  and  himself  placed  it  there;  having  the  tense 
feeling  possessed  by  myself,  disappear  all  of  a  sud- 
den. I  thanked  God  it  was  over  with  and  retired 
for  my  home.  That  night  blessed  me  with  the  best 
night's  sleep  I'd  had  for  many  a  night. 

The  following  morning  I  sat  in  retrospection.  A 
feeling  came  over  me  that  obsessed  me  with  the 
thought  that  I  had  never  done  a  thing  that  I  so 
hated  to  do  as  to  close  that  bank,  and  yet  less  than 
8  hours  earlier  I  had  been  glad  it  was  all  over.  All 
day  I  fought  with  myself,  candidly  admitted  as  be- 
ing the  longest  day  of  my  life. 

305 


Weren't  people  talking,  and  didn't  they  positively 
have  reason  to  talk  now,  for  wasn't  the  bank  closed, 
hadn't  the  purpose  of  many  of  scandal-monger  been 
accomplished?  Wouldn't  many  of  them  run  to 
Maquoketa,  the  County  seat,  and  inspect  the  sched- 
ule as  soon  as  filed,  so  their  campaign  could  con- 
tinue? 

I  took  some  consolation  in  the  fact  that  the  most 
insignificant  people  are  the  most  apt  to  sneer  at 
others;  they  are  safe  from  reprisals  and  have  no 
hopes  of  rising  in  their  own  esteem;  I  took  con- 
solation in  the  fact  that  a  smooth  sea  never  made  a 
skilful  mariner.  I  was  suffocated  and  lost,  brought 
about  by  ostentation  and  hypocrisy  of  many  of  the 
dear  public.  The  charlatons  had  been  verbose  and 
assumptive;  the  Pharisee  ostentatious  on  account 
of  being  a  hypocrit.  I  felt  they  were  the  sin  of  the 
devil  and  knew  that  the  devil  was  the  father  of  lies. 

Many  of  these  thoughts  crossed  my  mind  that 
first  day ;  I  became  more  irritable  and  nervous. 

Some  of  my  good  friends  called  at  the  house,  some 
of  them  good  depositors  of  our  bank.  They  did  all 
in  their  power  to  console  me.  I  didn't  want  sympathy 
and  consolation;  I  hadn't  stolen  anyone's  money; 
I  hadn't  misappropriated;  I  hadn't  been  a  shyster 
in  the  banking  business;  I  hadn't  taken  advantage 
of  anyone  in  the  community ;  and  yet  sympathy  and 
consolation  made  me  feel  good. 

Reports  were  current  that  I  had  skipped  out 
of  town;  had  taken  a  lot  of  cash  with  me,  when  as 

306 


a  matter  of  fact  there  wasn't  much  cash  around 
the  place;  when  in  truth  I  was  sitting  less  than 
30  feet  from  the  front  door  of  the  bank. 

You  bet,  I  staid  right  here  in  Bellevue;  could 
face  any  man  without  fear,  and  yet  for  all  of  that, 
a  feeling  such  as  I  will  not  attempt  to  explain  came 
over  me,  and  obsessed  me  thruout  the  day.  The 
day  following  I  wrote  home.  Again  that  feeling 
came  over  me,  for  little  did  my  dear  old  mother 
know  of  the  mental  strain  I  was  passing  thru.  I 
couldn't  help  but  recall  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane. 

Years  ago  I  read  that  perseverance  is  one's  duty 
and  that  being  silent  is  one's  best  answer  to  calum- 
ny. I  remained  silent.  Since  that  date  many  rumors 
that  were  afloat  have  been  retold  to  me;  rumors 
that  bear  out  my  previous  contention  as  to  Slander- 
ous Tongues;  rumors  that  in  themselves  were  en- 
tirely unfounded,  for  wasn't  I  right  here  in  Beauti- 
ful Bellevue  all  of  the  time?  I've  been  here  since 
too,  helping  the  boys  of  the  department  in  every 
way  possible,  without  any  thought  of  compensation ; 
a  help  that  is  very  much  aprreciated  by  the  man  in 
charge;  without  any  thought  of  what  the  future 
might  hold  in  store  for  me,  spending  part  of  my 
time  until  late  into  the  night,  passing  on  to  you, 
these  Memoirs  of  mine ;  among  which  are  experien- 
ces I  sincerely  hope  do  not  fall  to  the  lot  of  many. 

During  these  experiences  I  have  learned  that 
devils  are  not  all  confined  to  hell  or  hidden  by  in- 
visibility; that  they  are  rampant  on  the  streets  of 

307 


every  town,  seeking  whom  they  may  devour.  I 
have  learned  that  society  is  built  upon  Trust,  and 
Trust  upon  Confidence  in  one  anothers  Integrity, 
and  I  hope  I  shall  always  possess  firmness  and  virtue 
to  maintain,  what  I  consider  the  most  enviable  of 
all  titles,  Character  and  Honesty. 

The  morning  of  our  closing  I  called  the  Depart- 
ment, stuttering  the  information  to  them  that  we 
failed  to  open  that  morning. 

And  so,  EXPERIENCE  and  GRIEF,  gained  in 
my  18  years  in  the  banking  business  came  to  a  close. 
As  I  sit  and  wTrite  these  lines  tears  of  sorrow  and 
sadness  come  to  me;  tears  caused,  not  by  what  the 
future  may  hold  in  store  for  me,  but  tears  caused 
by  the  knowledge  that  out  of  every  bank  failure 
comes  sorrow  and  sadness;  sorrow  and  sadness 
brought  upon  many  good  people  of  the  community; 
sorrow  and  sadness  caused  by  infamous  tongues; 
and,  happy  as  I  am  that  it  is  all  over,  I  cannot  but 
feel  a  sense  of  responsibility;  a  responsibility  that 
I  have  shouldered  gladly  and  without  a  whimper; 
a  responsibility  that  is  not  nugatory. 

Just  at  this  moment,  were  I  to  deliver  myself  to 
the  arbitrament  of  a  special  pleader  I  might  be 
argued  into  an  Atheist ;  but,  I  am  not  so  delivering 
myself.  I  haven't  lost  my  confidence  in  Human 
Kind ;  I  haven't  lost  my  Faith  in  My  Maker ;  I  have 

308 


not  forsaken  the  ship,  but  will  stick  right  with  it, 
as  Frank  said  many  years  ago. 

The  world  is  frail;  it  is  fickle;  it  is  but  human 
to  criticise,  for  hasn't  criticism  been  rampant 
thruout?  A  character,  one  that  I  valued  highly;  a 
character  I  felt  proud  of,  earned  by  personal  ex- 
ertion and  not  by  external  advantages,  amounts  to 
what  today? 

Character,  as  you  well  know,  isn't  a  necessary  ap- 
pendage of  birth,  wealth  or  station;  but  the  result 
of  one's  own  endeavors — the  fruit  and  reward  of 
principle,  manifested  in  the  course  of  honorable 
action.  Censure,  used  in  tearing  down  such  Char- 
acter, is  nothing  but  a  personal  thought  of  our  su- 
perior wisdom,  and  is  too  often  evidence  of  the 
conceit  that  would  magnify  one's  self,  or  the 
malignity  that  would  detract  from  others. 

If  I  have  done  any  Deed  worthy  of  Remembrance, 
that  deed  will  be  my  monument.  If  not,  no  monu- 
ment can  preserve  my  memory. 

Shortly,  I'll  leave  the  little  community  with  which 
I  have  been  associated ;  a  community  I  have  always 
loved ;  against  which  I  hold  no  ill-will ;  a  community 
that  shall  always  be  near  and  dear  to  me ;  one  that 
I  shall  many,  many  times  refer  to  with  a  sad  heart. 
Memories  shall  return ;  memories  of  this  battle  and 
that,  with  the  odds  many  times  against  me;  some- 

309 


times  the  elements,  and  at  times,  I  would  almost 
assume,  even  the  Gods.  I  am  preparing  to  go  forth ; 
fight  another  battle  in  an  attempt  to  recover  and 
recoup,  and  in  the  years  to  come  I  hope  and  pray  my 
Maker  shall  hold  better  things  in  store  for  me. 


THE    END. 


10 


(TO  THE  READER) 

Additional  copies  of  this  book  may  be  obtained 
direct  from  the  author  only. 

If  you  feel,  after  having  read  the  book,  that  you 
have  gained  any  knowledge  or  information  from 
reading  it,  or  that  it  contains  any  worth-while  facts 
or  thoughts,  PLEASE  so  write  me. 

It  is  my  intention  to  commercialize  it,  as  you  can 
assume,  and  a  letter  from  you  will  assist  me  greatly. 

Thank  you. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Leo  F.  Schmitt,  Author. 

Bellevue,    Iowa. 


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